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Why hasn't the counterattack started yet in Chapter 222?
Although the Scorsese counter-attack did not result in a goal, it greatly boosted the team's morale, allowing them to still see hope in difficult times.

However, this counterattack also served as a wake-up call for Tyne.

Ten minutes into the second half, although Tyne had the upper hand in overall offensive play, just like in the first half, he was all bark and no bite.

They launched a fierce attack, but failed to score.

If this continues for a while, the Scorsese will become increasingly emboldened as they see that Tyne can't get past their goal, and no one can say for sure what will happen then.

However, rushing things might give the Scots more and better opportunities to retaliate.

Chi Zhen almost received Del Mora's pass this time, but what about next time? We can't expect Skos' counter-attacks to end in failure every time due to some small mistake, can we?
Perhaps commentator Connor Cowley is right. Tyne should have played it safe, controlled the tempo, and then used passing and dribbling to move the Scorsese players around, forcing them to exhaust themselves and bleed them dry.

This will make it even more difficult for the Skos people, who are already one person short, to cope.

It's actually just like what Clayton Sports did to Tyne in the last round of the league.

Clayton's tactical choices were correct, but they encountered a god-like Wang Lie.

But that is an extremely special case, not a common phenomenon.

You can't expect every team that's down a player and trailing in the score to have a player like Wang Lie who can step up and be a lone hero, can you?

Therefore, Clayton Sports' draw at home against Tyne in the last league match does not necessarily mean that Clayton Sports' tactical choices were wrong. As a master of team football, Rayan Kochea didn't actually do anything wrong.

He just unfortunately ran into Wang Lie, who had just come down from Mount Olympus...

The people of Koskas did not have a king named Lie.

Therefore, Tyne can completely emulate Clayton Athletic from the previous round of the league.

Conor Cowley, as an experienced professional football commentator, possesses basic tactical knowledge.

His advice was sound.

However, as the game continued, Tyne did not play according to the plan given by Connor Cowley.

They continued their offensive, besieging the Scousians within a 30-meter radius.

It looks like they'll collapse if they don't get a two-goal lead right away...

Connor Cowley shook his head: "I don't know if the cheers from the home fans made the Tyne players collectively lose their composure... This was too risky!"

The cheers at Lize Park were indeed very loud.

The Tyne fans in the stands seemed more excited and enthusiastic than the Tyne players.

After all, it's extremely rare to see your own team dominating the Scorsese!
※※※

When facing an opponent who has tightened their defense, the attacking side will usually choose a tall center forward to press in the penalty area, stand at the forefront, and act as the bridgehead for the team's attack. They will use their height and heading advantage to create opportunities for their teammates, or simply score themselves.

However, Tyne did not do that in this game, even though Wang Lie's physical condition was suitable for playing that "center forward".

Whether it was him, or Vitini and Ribeiro, they were constantly changing positions and moving around, just like the paint in the Scotts' restricted area is the three-second zone in a basketball game.

They were using constant movement to break down the Skos's defenses.

For example, when Wang Lie runs out of the penalty area, does the center-back of the Scottish team follow him?
If Wang Lie doesn't follow, he can get relatively more freedom to receive the ball outside the penalty area, which is tantamount to "releasing a tiger back to the mountain" for someone of Wang Lie's level. Moreover, Wang Lie running out of the penalty area means that Tyne has an extra attacking player outside the penalty area, which will put the Scorsese defenders, who were originally one-on-one, in a dilemma of "who will guard him".

In essence, any football tactic boils down to either creating a numerical advantage, a spatial advantage, or a time advantage in a specific area...

Therefore, if Wang Lie drops back and the center-backs don't follow, it's easy for mistakes to occur.

But if you go out with them, things will go wrong just as well.

Because there are fewer defenders in the penalty area, it will provide opportunities for other Tyne players.

Although Wang Lie has scored six of Tyne's eight goals so far this season, Tyne is no longer a team that can rely solely on Wang Lie.

Whether it's Vitini, Ribeiro, Pisano, or Cabella, they all possess excellent finishing abilities.

Wang Lie's move out of the penalty area creates opportunities for others.

No matter how bad they are compared to Wang Lie, try letting them get the ball in an open space.
Now it's not just Wang Lie frequently pulling out of the penalty area; all three forwards are doing it, constantly switching positions. Should the Scottish players follow suit or not? If they do, how should they do it?
Such frequent switching of positions and cooperation is indeed very complex, so it's no wonder that Tyne hasn't fully integrated even after almost two months of practice.

It makes it even easier to confuse the Skos players who are defending them.

In such frequent exchanges of defensive targets, it is particularly easy for problems of poor teamwork to arise.

Of course, the attacking side is also prone to making mistakes due to overly complex attack strategies, which can lead to a failed attack.

But now that the Scouts are down a player, they can only tighten their defense, giving Tyne an opportunity to "train" in a real game.

So McNeil asked the team to play like this after the start of the second half.

Controlling the ball, passing it back and forth, and waiting lukewarmly for the game to go on for over seventy minutes until the Skos players themselves hit a physical plateau is certainly one way to go.

But McNeil still wants to speed up the process.

It wasn't that he was arrogant or conceited, believing his team was capable of a quick victory over the Scorsese.

On the contrary, his decision stemmed from his lack of confidence and anxiety, fearing that something unexpected might happen during the game that he couldn't control, causing the team to lose their excellent position.

As we all know, being ahead by one goal is the most dangerous score in the world.

In McNeil's mind, a two-goal lead was the second most dangerous score, second only to a one-goal lead.

Does a three-goal lead mean we're safe?

Not necessarily, it depends on the specific circumstances.

It's also dangerous to be leading by three goals in the first half.

Only when McNeil was leading by three goals in the last ten minutes of the game could he finally relax a little...

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In the 59th minute, Wang Lie once again pulled the ball out of the penalty area of ​​the Skós team.

Scots' center-back, captain Masson Harper, ran out with him.

However, Sergi Cabella, who was receiving the ball outside the penalty area, completely ignored Wang Lie, who had pulled out of the box. Even though Wang Lie was right in front of him, he did not pass the ball to him, but instead passed it to Pisano on the right flank.

Then he accelerated and rushed into the gap that Wang Lie had created in the penalty area!
Pisano met the rolling ball without stopping it and passed it directly with his foot.

His right foot slid in from under the ball, sending it flying in an arc towards the space where Cabella was making a run!
But that's not a real gap!
Because the defenders of the Scots were not wooden stakes, upon seeing the ball flying towards them, another center-back, Oliver Sheren, immediately lunged into the open space to stop Cabella.

At the same time, goalkeeper Lucero moved over to prepare for the save.

As Cabella moved forward, he glanced back at the ball and caught a glimpse of a dark blue figure flashing past Sheren out of the corner of his eye.

He knew what he had to do.

He jumped up, stretched out his foot as if to stop the ball, but instead used the inside of his left foot to deflect the ball to the right!

The ball flew over Sheren's head, and it was too late for him to turn around. He could only look up and sigh at the ball!
"Carbella...cross the ball!"

"Wang—!!!" Strictly speaking, Xie Lun didn't actually leave much of an opening behind him when he pounced.

Because other Skos players will come over to cover for them.

So what's actually behind Sheren isn't an opening, but a rift.

But Cabella still resolutely passed the ball over, because he knew who that dark blue figure belonged to.

Scots' left-back Gabriel Atala charged at Wang Lie, hoping to disrupt his shot—he had lost his position and could only try to interfere.

But he couldn't move Wang Lie.

He could only watch as Wang Lie leaped into the air and charged forward!
When Scots goalkeeper Lucero saw Cabella pass the ball to the other side, he quickly turned around, took two steps, and then pushed off the ground with both legs, diving forward!
His reaction was undeniably quick, but it was still futile against Wang Lie's powerful header.

He didn't manage to touch the ball!
The continuous cheers at Lize Park Stadium reached their peak at this moment!
※※※

"Wang Lie!!! Great shot! Great shot! A brace! Tyne 2-0!!"

As the football flew into the goal, commentator Luo Jin in the studio behind the camera excitedly raised his arms and shouted.

He used to cheer for Chi Zhen, and now he cheers for Wang Lie, because he's not a brainless fan; he's a Chinese commentator who encourages every outstanding Chinese player.

Zhao Chuanfeng, standing nearby, was also very excited: "The seventh goal! Only three rounds into the new season, and Wang Lie has already scored seven goals! How can he be thirty-eight years old? He wasn't even in this form at twenty-eight!"

That's absolutely true, because 28-year-old Wang Lie was at a low point in his career.

The 2026-2027 season will be his last season at Atlético Barcelona. Due to the presence of Nascimento Ronier, Wang Lie's tactical role at Atlético Barcelona has changed.

He is no longer the team's key player and main scorer.

Instead, he became Ronaldo's support and foil, using his movement to create space for Ronaldo or to set up the ball for him.

That season, he made 24 league appearances for Atlético Barcelona and scored 12 goals, which was his fewest league goals in a season other than his first season after joining Atlético Barcelona and still in the adaptation period.

Zhao Chuanfeng may not have intentionally intended to use Wang Lie's stats from that season when he was at his lowest point for comparison; he just blurted it out in a moment of excitement.

In fact, it should be compared to Wang Lie's peak season in his professional career:

In the 2029-2030 season, Wang Lie will be thirty years old.

He made 38 league appearances and scored 46 goals.

He scored a total of 79 goals throughout the season.

However, in this crazy season, Wang Lie did not score an astonishing seven goals in the first three rounds of the league.

Therefore, if we extrapolate Wang Lie's total goals for the season based on his goal-scoring efficiency in the first three rounds of the league, it will surprise everyone—could it be that the 38-year-old Wang Lie can break his own best record in terms of goals?!

However, neither Zhao Chuanfeng nor Luo Jin had thought that way yet; they were both immersed in the excitement of Wang Lie's second marriage.

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While commentators Luo Jin and Zhao Chuanfeng, far away in China, could simply rejoice at Wang Lie's goal, Conor Cowley, commentator in the Lize Park commentary box, had much more to say:
He had just concluded that Tyne's current style of play was unsustainable and posed a significant risk.

He also advised Tyne to slow down.

He was proven wrong shortly after saying that...

Of course, as a commentator, it's impossible to be 100% accurate, and it's okay if the actual course of the game proves you wrong.

Connor Cowley isn't the kind of person who holds grudges.

The main reason he had mixed feelings was Wang Lie, the person who slapped him in the face.

Actually, his analysis was fine; the only flaw was in the person himself.

Wang Lie turned his highly professional analysis and predictions into a joke in an instant...

However, his professionalism prevented him from falling silent despite his complex emotions. When a goal was scored and emotions erupted, the passionate voice of a professional commentator was absolutely indispensable:

"2-0!! After a series of beautiful passes, Wang scored the second goal for Tyne! Tyne has taken a two-goal lead at home! The situation is in their favor! Before the match, probably no one could have imagined that Tyne could take a two-goal lead over the Scorsese at home!"

After loudly announcing Wang Lie's goal and Tyne's two-goal lead, he shook his head and exclaimed, "Wang scored twice in this match, marking his third consecutive game with at least two goals. A year ago, when Wang was benched by Heldon, everyone was discussing whether he should leave gracefully. But now, he has proven with seven goals in three games that he's not just someone with fuel in the tank; he's practically a nuclear-powered heart! I think Wang has shattered my preconceived notions about 38-year-old players..."

His commentator partner, Luke Milne, laughed and said, "That's what he does best, Connor. Whether he's thirty or thirty-eight, he always manages to surprise everyone!"

Connor Cowley turned to look at him: "It seems you're not surprised that he's performing like this at thirty-eight..."

Milne replied with a matter-of-fact smile, "Of course, for Wang, thirty-eight is just an age number; it doesn't correlate with his ability. Because he's not the kind of ordinary player who can be bound by rules and defined by labels!"

After answering Connor Cowley with a smile, Milne said with a hint of sarcasm, "The Scows are in big trouble!"

※※※

The Scots are in real trouble.

With one less person, the disadvantage of being behind is amplified.

Moreover, many Scots fans seemed to suddenly realize something at this moment:
The player who was the biggest contributor to Tyne's comeback from being down to ten men and two goals down in the last game is still Tyne in this game!
Instead of being on their side...

So if Tyne can do it, can they too?

It's not just the fans of the Scorsese who think this way; there are probably some players among the Scorsese team who are thinking the same thing...

As Wang Lie, who scored the goal, ran towards the corner flag and waved back at Cabella, he passed through the stunned Skós players.

They stood motionless in the forbidden zone, like the stone pillars of Stonehenge.

Even when the Tyne players who were running to celebrate with Wang Lie bumped into them as they passed by, they didn't react much; they just tilted their bodies and took a step back.

Many people may have already recalled the match six months ago, how Wang Lie crushed them with a hat trick...

Not only these players, but also the away team's head coach Josep Gil, standing in front of the coaching bench, stared blankly at the field.

Faced with this conceded goal, he didn't angrily swing his fist or smash a water bottle.

When he saw Wang Lie head the ball into the net, he simply tilted his head back and swayed his upper body.

Behind him in the stands, the jubilant Tyne fans were singing:
"The extraordinary heart reverberates in the furnace, and waves surge in Lizzie Park! The extraordinary heart flows in the veins, and whistles sound on the River Tyne—"

"As the fleet sets sail, our captain is setting the course for victory:"

"Let's go, Tyne! From the river to the sea!"
"Forward, Tyne! We are unstoppable!"

The powerful singing was like a slap across his face, each word striking him with a burning pain.

Didn't we say the counterattack would start now?

where is it?

Why hasn't it started yet?

(End of this chapter)