Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 171 Half-Time Champion
The match against Everton has ended.

Shan Yongzhuo also fell into some contemplation.

This was the toughest game he had played since his debut.

It's not that Everton's defense is truly impenetrable, or even better than giants like Inter Milan and Manchester United, but rather that they have discovered a significant problem with their own defense.

Teams like Everton may not actually have a stronger defense than some of the big clubs, but they implement the strategy of parking the bus more thoroughly and shamelessly.

Moreover, the team buses used by Premier League teams and Serie A teams are different.

Italian teams don't rely heavily on physical confrontations in defense; they rely more on their overall formation and teamwork.

Even when parking the bus, many mid-to-lower-tier Serie A teams still park it in a relatively organized manner, relying more on tactics, and they don't completely give up on attacking.

Teams like Everton, who are in the lower half of the Premier League, are different. Their defensive strategy is purely defensive, and it's hard to say that it has much technical sophistication.

Furthermore, Premier League teams place greater emphasis on physical confrontation in defense than Serie A teams. Although they don't use as many subtle fouls as Serie A defenders, their direct and aggressive attacks are more powerful.

Moreover, teams like Everton, unless there's a clear-cut chance, really don't attack at all when they park the bus.

This match proves that the two goals were not even chances, but rather largely lucky goals.

But Everton relied on those two lucky goals and their defensive strategy of stopping the bus to defeat Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Shan Yongzhuo has now discovered this problem.

If an opponent parks the bus like Everton does, scoring a goal won't be easy, even with skillful tactics.

While the whirlwind ground kick has a good stickiness effect, it can actually make you more vulnerable to being knocked down when facing these teams.

While the Ghost Catching Hand technique can create shooting opportunities, it's not so easy to score from outside the box when facing a defensive team.

Dan Yongzhuo checked his various attributes and found that the improvement was significant.

Strength has reached 63 points, stamina 76 points, speed and dribbling are both 62 points, and defense is 23 points.

Shan Yongzhuo has always focused his points on endurance, all of which he improved through training. Overall, he can be considered a qualified professional player.

However, Shan Yongzhuo still has a major problem.

That is, scoring goals still relies too much on skill. Once the skills are used up, even against mid-to-lower-tier Premier League teams, the only way to score goals is still through shooting technique.

To put it simply, it means relying on the weather for a living.

There's nothing we can do about it. Although Shan Yongzhuo's technical and tactical skills have improved, they are still not up to par. Coupled with his long-term laziness, his positioning is completely uncontrolled, and he can't form any effective cooperation with his teammates.

However, Shan Yongzhuo didn't care; his main focus now was on skills.

There are two skills he hasn't acquired yet: speed and defense.

The speed skill requires 90 points to acquire, which is still quite a distance away, while the defensive skill is within reach.

You can get a defensive skill for just 30 points.

Although this is a defensive skill, Shan Yongzhuo is now quite envious, since he's only 7 points away from achieving that, which is 35 goals.

With some effort, there is still hope that this world can be reached.

"Forget it! Let's put all the remaining points into defense."

"As for how long it will last, let's take it slow for now. We've endured two years already, so what's one more time..."

Dan Yongzhuo made this decision with great pain in his heart.

……

Manchester City began their Christmas break after the match against Everton.

However, the holiday was very short because of the loss in the last game.

Shan Yongzhuo didn't feel anything about Christmas. Marina cooked dinner and went off to spend some time alone with her new British girlfriend. Shan Yongzhuo, quite naturally, stayed home alone and started playing World of Warcraft.

However, he still received quite a few Christmas gifts, from teammates, former teammates, and even Elena and Emily, who are far away in Italy.

Returning gifts is a hassle, but it's something that still needs to be done.

……

12 month 26 day.

On the first day after Christmas, the Premier League resumed, with Manchester City traveling to Newcastle United for an away game.

This round features the Christmas matches scheduled by the FA, with Chelsea vs. Arsenal attracting a lot of attention. In contrast, the match between Manchester City and the old powerhouse Newcastle United is not as appealing.

Newcastle United, a long-established powerhouse, has had a lackluster season and has struggled to attract much attention.

However, Manchester City's matches still garnered attention, after all, they were the mid-season champions.

The first match after Christmas can also be seen as the start of the second half of the season. Manchester City suffered a shock defeat to Everton in the last round, and whether they can regain their form in this match is a major point of interest.

St. James' Park was packed with people that day.

However, Manchester City did not give Newcastle United many opportunities.

In the first half, Shan Yongzhuo scored twice, and in the second half, he scored again to complete his hat-trick.

Balotelli scored a goal, adding to the tally.

In the end, Manchester City shook off their slump and defeated Newcastle United 4-2 away from home.

Just two days later, in the last game of December, Manchester City once again defeated Aston Villa 4-0 at home, achieving two consecutive victories.

Shan Yongzhuo scored two more goals, his hot streak amazing the English media.

So far, the league has completed 20 rounds, and Shan Yongzhuo has scored an astonishing 36 goals, averaging 1.8 goals per game.

Although his goal-scoring efficiency has declined compared to last season with Roma, it is still terrifying.

The second-highest scorer is Manchester United's Berbatov. Berbatov has performed exceptionally well this season, but he has only scored 11 goals so far, 25 behind Shan Yongzhuo.

That gap alone is enough to win the Premier League Golden Boot, which is a bit too scary.

"Berbatov and Shan Yongzhuo are one Premier League Golden Boot away from each other!"

"This is the world's number one striker!"

"Shan Yongzhuo dominates the Premier League top scorers list!"

"..."

The English media are lavishly praising Shan Yongzhuo.

However, Shan Yongzhuo was already in London at the moment, where he would board a plane to Doha, the capital of Qatar, and was basically unaware of the praise from the English media.

The 2011 AFC Asian Cup will be held there, and Shan Yongzhuo will naturally be with the team to participate in the Asian Cup matches.

Shan Yongzhuo still has high expectations for this Asian Cup.

After all, having played against so many Premier League teams, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play against Asian minnows and rack up goals.

Although the Chinese team is not very strong, Qatar, Uzbekistan and Kuwait in the same group are not considered strong teams either.

Looking at the whole of Asia, the Chinese national football team at this time could still be considered a top-tier team among the second-tier teams in Asia.

If the gap isn't that big, scoring a goal shouldn't be too difficult.

(End of this chapter)