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Chapter 252 100% Synchronization Rate
After celebrating his goal, Youssef Chapchet pulled aside his assistant coach and said, "Tell the players not to rush forward to attack. Control the ball more. Don't pass the ball forward easily unless there's a particularly good opportunity... Don't give possession of the ball to the opponent."

The assistant coach was surprised by Chapchett's instructions: "Shouldn't we press our advantage and extend our lead?"

After Lille took the lead, there were about ten minutes left in the first half, including stoppage time.

For Lille, whose morale is currently soaring, scoring another goal at this point is not out of the question.

That's why the assistant coach thought they should press their advantage and if they could make it 3-1 by halftime, they would basically have won the game.

But Chapchett disagreed with the suggestion, shaking his head: "Have you forgotten why Tyne conceded a goal to us?"

The assistant coach tried to argue further: "The situation is different, Yusuf. We only conceded one goal, while Tyne went from leading to trailing. That kind of drop will have a huge psychological impact on them, as you saw..."

He pointed at the Tyne players on the field, or more precisely, at Vitini.

After conceding the goal, Vitini was definitely the most excited player in Tyne's squad.

He first yelled at the sky, then covered his head with his hands and turned around. Next, he swung his hands down forcefully, stomped his feet in anger, and muttered incessantly, it was unclear whether he was swearing...

Given the established impression Vitini has left on everyone, he might be on the verge of a breakdown right now.

Chapchett, however, shook his head, insisting on his opinion: "All I know is that they have Wang on their team. Who can guarantee that Wang won't score a goal right away and tie the score?"

The assistant coach was speechless; he truly couldn't guarantee that the situation the head coach described wouldn't occur.

Although Wang Lie is already thirty-eight years old, he is a player who has scored twelve goals in seven games in the new season. So what if he is thirty-eight?

Not to mention the many "classic moments" that Wang Lie left behind.

No one dares to bet that Wang Lie doesn't have that ability.

He turned and walked to the sidelines to find someone to pass on a message.

However, he didn't just ask any player who was close to him to pass on the message. Instead, he first called out Amadou Tutu, the left-back who was relatively close to him, and then gestured for him to call Fu Xiaofeng.

The reason Fu Xiaofeng was specifically chosen to be assigned the task is, of course, because as the midfield core of Lille Atlético de Lille, Fu Xiaofeng is responsible for controlling the pace of the game. At the same time, the assistant coach believes that with Fu Xiaofeng's football intelligence and understanding of Wang Lie, his national team teammates, he doesn't need to explain too much.

After all, he didn't have time to explain to Fu Xiaofeng why head coach Youssef Chapchet did this.

Sure enough, when Fu Xiaofeng was called over and heard what the assistant coach said, he didn't waste any words and nodded in agreement: "Okay, I understand."

The assistant coach patted him on the shoulder, signaling him to pass the message on to the other teammates.

He turned and ran onto the court, heading towards his teammates who were still celebrating.

Meanwhile, the Lille Atlético players were in high spirits, ready to roll up their sleeves and give it their all.

When they heard Fu Xiaofeng relay the head coach's instructions, they all thought they had misheard:

"Did the coach really say that?"

Fu Xiaofeng nodded: "Yes, that's what they said. They told us to slow down, not to push too far forward, and to pay special attention to the gaps behind us, so that Tyne could use them to launch a counterattack, just like how we countered them before."

"But why... why is Tyne so unsteady on his feet just when we've taken the lead?!"

Teammates in the crowd expressed their incomprehension.

Just like those coaches who didn't understand earlier.

Fu Xiaofeng gave the same reason as the head coach, although the assistant coach hadn't actually told him this reason...

He said, "Because of Wang Lie. You think Wang Lie can't do it?"

Everyone was silent.

Judging from Wang Lie's past experience, scoring a goal in the final moments of a match—including the final moments of the first half—is not a rare occurrence.

Even if a player like Wang Lie is invisible for most of the game and his performance is not outstanding, he should not be underestimated.

These are all lessons learned in blood.

Very few players in this current Lille team have ever played against Wang Lie. Since Youssef Chapchet took over as coach of the team, Lille has not played against Wang Lie's team.

But these personal experiences are not necessary.

Wang Lie's reputation was known throughout Europe.

If it were last year, they might have dismissed the head coach's cowardly arrangement.

But now, nobody dares to do that; nobody dares to gamble on the odds.

※※※

Leading Lille opted for a relatively conservative tactic, as did trailing Tyne.

So in the last few minutes of the first half, the game became a bit strange.

The pace suddenly slowed down.

Atletico Lille fans were initially cheering their team on with great enthusiasm.

But after watching two minutes of the game, I realized something was wrong—it seemed like both teams were planning to end the first half like this…

Lille Atlético did not intend to press their advantage, and Tyne was unwilling to cause any further trouble.

The score remained unchanged at 2-1 until the referee blew the whistle to end the first half, with the home team, Atlético Lille, in the lead.

Watching Tyne's players walk off the field with their heads down on the live stream, Luo Jin said:
"...Actually, both the score and the process are perfectly acceptable for Tyne, a team making their Champions League debut. In fact, Tyne's performance in the first half was quite unexpected... Before the match, everyone thought they would be nervous because it was their first Champions League appearance and wouldn't be able to perform at their league level, but they scored the first goal. Of course, it was an away game, and Atlético Lille is no pushover. So despite being behind, I think Tyne's performance was in line with expectations..."

I'm not trying to "make excuses" for Tyne; he's telling the truth.

In the first half, the only problem was that they were behind in the score; otherwise, who could find fault with Tyne?
They took the lead with an early goal, and their subsequent attacks were incredibly fierce, showing no signs of being a novice making their first appearance in a match.

It truly embodies the spirit of "a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger."

"...If they can maintain the performance of the first half in the second half, it is still possible to equalize the score."

Finally, Luo Jin said this.

He genuinely believed that Tyne's ability to secure a draw against Lille away from home would be a very good result.

Wang Lie is very strong, but we also need to consider the overall strength of the two teams.

Atlético Lille is definitely not someone to be trifled with...

Besides, he wasn't one of those brainless fans of Wang Lie who insisted on using another national team player as a stepping stone to highlight Wang Lie's awesomeness.

※※※

As soon as the referee blew the first whistle to end the first half, Sam McNeil turned and walked towards the locker room. This could be interpreted as his dissatisfaction with his players' performance—taking the lead in the first half only to be overtaken later.

But McNeil was in such a hurry to return to the locker room just so he could quietly and undisturbed observe the players' most genuine reactions to the first half.

Unlike their performance on broadcast, players often show their true emotions back in the locker room.

For example, if a player is unhappy, they will only throw things after returning to the locker room, not on the field.

So McNeil went back to the locker room first, waiting for each of the starting players to return from the field.

Then observe their reactions.

Vitini was the first to return to the locker room, and before he even entered, he yelled a curse in Portuguese.

After entering the locker room, he threw the shin guards he was holding on the ground.

After throwing the ball, he noticed the head coach sitting inside. He felt a little embarrassed, but he didn't say anything. He just went back to his seat, sat down, and started panting.

After him, Tyne players returned to the locker room one after another, and everyone showed varying degrees of dissatisfaction with the score in the first half. However, they were not as obvious as Vitini, and at least no one threw anything.

Of course, perhaps it's because they already know the boss is in the locker room...

When Wang Lie returned to the locker room, he appeared calm. He also noticed McNeil, who glanced at him as he looked at him.

After all the players had returned to the locker room, McNeil closed the door and said to them:

“Ever since we conceded the second goal, I’ve been thinking about one question: Was my decision to intensify the attack after we took the lead the right one? Would it have been better if we had stabilized our defense after taking the lead, instead of continuing to push forward?”

Assistant coach Cesar Varo glanced at McNeil with some surprise:
Dude, didn't you just deny what I said? How come you're using it yourself now?

McNeil, completely unaware that Varro was internally criticizing him, posed the question to his teammates: "So, tell me, were our decisions after scoring in the first half wrong?"

Before he could finish speaking, Vitini, whose emotions had been in turmoil, stood up abruptly and shouted, "No, no! It's not wrong! Boss, your decision is correct! It's just that we... I didn't seize the opportunity. If I had scored that goal, things would have been different!"

McNeil looked at Vitini and asked him, "So it's okay for us to continue attacking after taking the lead?"

"Of course there's no problem, boss! Absolutely no problem!" Vitini was very excited, his voice was louder than usual, as if he wasn't talking to the head coach.

"If we're in the lead, it means we're performing better than them, so why don't we keep pushing and try to score even more goals?"

When he said this, Vitini no longer addressed head coach McNeil, but turned to his other teammates, as if looking for his supporters among them.

Soon, team captain Elliott Goetz was the first to agree with him: "Vitini is right, it's good to keep attacking after taking the lead, boss. The score isn't your problem now."

When the vice-captain said this, many players in the locker room nodded in agreement.

McNeil didn't continue the discussion. Instead, he pointed to the locker room door and said, "There must be a lot of people outside saying that we actually played quite well in the first half, scoring first and only trailing by one goal, considering it's our first time in the Champions League... But I want to say that they're wrong."

"As a club, it is indeed Tain's first time participating in the Champions League, but many of you have participated in the Champions League before. Tain is a team made up of individual players, so how can you say that this is our first time playing in the Champions League? Can't the experience of each individual who has participated in the Champions League become the team's experience?"

As McNeil spoke, he kept turning his head to observe the reactions of each player in the locker room.

He noticed that most of the players nodded slightly when they heard this, and some even widened their eyes in surprise.

Then his tone became intense and forceful: "So I don't accept the premise that this is our first time participating in the Champions League, and I don't think that 1-2 in the first half is an acceptable result! We have to continue to attack in the second half, and because we are behind, we have no choice but to attack! In the first five rounds of the Premier League, we scored sixteen goals, the most goals scored in the entire Premier League. What does that mean?"

He answered his own question: "This shows that our offensive firepower is very strong! This is our advantage, and since it is an advantage, we must make full use of it! So in the second half, we will continue to use our best offensive strategy to defeat our opponents!"

※※※

"In the first half, we not only equalized after being down by one goal, but we also took the lead. You did a great job, gentlemen, very good!"

Lille's head coach, Youssef Chapchet, in the locker room, abandoned his cautious approach after taking the lead in the first half, praising his players and encouraging them to keep up the good work in the second half.

"In the second half, we need to maintain the same rhythm as in the first half. No matter what happens, we must stay calm. We have more Champions League experience than our opponents, so there's no reason to panic! In the second half, we need to focus our attack on the right flank and put constant pressure on Tain's left..."

Based on Chapchett's observations at the end of the first half, he believed that Tyne's weakness lay on the left flank.

Left-back Anderson Nova is an attack-minded full-back who is also young and inexperienced.

Vitini is notorious for being a "time bomb".

By continuously applying pressure here, we can make the inexperienced Nova make mistakes, and also cause Vitini to lose control of his emotions under pressure, thus underperforming.

If we can do that, we can disable one of Tyne's sides.

The team's chances of winning the game will increase significantly.

According to Chapchette, Vitini was very emotional from the moment he conceded the first goal.

When the first half ended, Vitini seemed to want to stay on the field for not even a second longer, and he was the first to run into the players' tunnel at top speed.

He was at the entrance of the passage when Vitini ran past him, and he could clearly hear Vitini's heavy breathing.

This was clearly not Vitini panting from exhaustion...

Therefore, Chapchette judged that Vitini's emotions were like a powder keg, ready to explode at any moment.

He knew that after Wang Lie came to Tyne, Vitini's reputation seemed to have improved.

But he didn't believe that Vitini could change his personality in such a short time; he was just enduring it because he was being suppressed by Wang Lie.

Just like magma, normally it is sealed inside the Earth by the crust, but because the pressure at the Earth's core is too great, there will always be a time when it cannot be sealed. At that time, the magma will gush out from the weak point and form a volcanic eruption.

Chapchette's adjustment for the team in the second half was to keep pressing Tyne on the left flank, forcing Vitini, the "volcano," to erupt and destroy Tyne.

※※※

McNeil looked at Wang Lie, indicating that Wang Lie, as the captain, should say a few words.

But Wang Lie shook his head and smiled at McNeil, saying, "You're right, boss. That's it. Always think about winning."

After receiving Wang Lie's affirmation, McNeil clapped his hands loudly and said, "Wang is right! Guys, no matter what, no matter what the situation, we must think about winning! Win! Now go out there!"

His shout successfully stirred up the players' emotions, and they all stood up from their seats and rushed out of the locker room with shouts.

Wang Lie trailed behind, giving McNeil a thumbs-up before leaving.

Assistant coach Varo turned to McNeil and asked, "Sam, isn't what you told the players the same thing I told you before? You already have the answer in your heart, so why are you asking them?"

McNeil chuckled and explained to his partner, "Because I want to take this opportunity to observe them. I want to know if everyone is on my side, and if anyone really thinks that being down 1-2 is an acceptable result. That way, I'll know how many people are willing to go all out for victory."

"So what's the answer? How many people are willing to go all out for victory?"

McNeil answered happily, "One hundred percent!"

(End of this chapter)