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Chapter 308 Cold Rainy Night

"...Remember, when Wang is in the penalty area, whether he has the ball or not, at least two people must go up to defend him!"

This is what Sofia United manager Meler Shapman emphasized to his players in the locker room before the match.

It sounds pretty outrageous and amateurish—if you arrange it like that, doesn't that mean the other Tyne players will be left unguarded?

But Shapman made that arrangement, and none of the Sofia United players, being professional players, raised any objections to his decision.

Clearly, they share the same idea as the head coach.

Everyone believed that Wang Lie was an extremely dangerous person, and that it was perfectly justifiable to deal with him by any means necessary—as long as it wasn't against the rules.

This defensive approach, which disregards cost entirely, did indeed prove effective in the game.

Because after more than 33 minutes, they had only allowed Wang Lie to score one goal, and that goal was scored from outside the penalty area.

This shows that the strategy of saturating the penalty area to defend against Wang Lie was correct.

—That's exactly what Mehler Shapman thought before Wang Lie's header.

It wasn't just Shapman; many Solfo United players thought the same way.

So when Wang Lie jumped, Sofia goalkeeper Diego Ferrer shifted his attention away from Wang Lie and looked toward Tyne, who might have a shooting opportunity.

For example, Cabella, who stretched out his arms outside the penalty area to ask Wang Lie for the ball, or Miguel Ribeiro, who was also in the penalty area.

These two players are the most likely to receive a pass from Wang Lie, and are also the most likely to threaten their own goal.

So Ferrer didn't notice that Wang Lie's jumping action was a bit strange - he didn't jump from a standing position, but applied a twisting force when he jumped, which caused his body to have a rotational tendency when he jumped.

After confirming the positions of the two Tyne players who might threaten his goal, he turned his attention back to Wang Lie and was surprised to find that Wang Lie, who had been facing away from the goal, had turned around and was now facing the goal from the side!

Before he could even react to how Wang Lie had done it... the soccer ball had already been headed on by Wang Lie!

But in that situation, even if you could head the ball, so what?

He was half-sided against the goal, with Tyler Murphy interfering from behind.

What quality can you expect from a header like that?

Ferrer wasn't the only one who thought this; many viewers who watched the broadcast on television shared the same opinion, feeling that Wang Lie's attempt to head the ball under those circumstances was far too risky...

It's almost as if he's obsessed with scoring goals; he has to take the shot no matter what.

When commentator Marvin Block saw Wang Lie's awkward header on the monitor in front of him, he couldn't help but criticize him:

"That's too much! It's impossible..."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw the soccer ball fly into the goal!

Goalkeeper Ferrer remained standing on the ground without making a save... or rather, without making a full save; he only made a "preparatory" move before the ball went in.

Just like the first goal we conceded.

He simply turned his head to look at the football in the goal.

Marvin Block was too far away to see Ferrer's expression, but his own expression was probably similar to Ferrer's.

Brock stared blankly at the arena, his words falling silent.

Meanwhile, the commentator Connor Cowley was excitedly shouting:

"Wang—!!! Aha!! What a beautiful header! An unbelievable goal! Wang spun in the air and headed the ball! He scored a goal that shouldn't have happened!"

Even though he knew Connor Cowley was just fulfilling his duties as a commentator, Brock still felt his cheeks burning, as if he had a fever.

He was slapped in the face by Wang Lie's shot.

He unconsciously stroked his face, suddenly remembering what Luke Milne had told him:

"You don't understand the king."

But how could I not understand Wang?

Having been teammates with him for so many years, haven't I seen enough of these embarrassing moments?

Previously, he was the one standing next to Wang Lie, watching others get humiliated by Wang Lie.

Now, it's his turn to be proven wrong.

So... I knew Wang would be proven wrong, so how could I have been so sure that the King of Balls couldn't score?

Yes, how could I dare?
※※※

The television broadcast was showing a slow-motion replay of Wang Lie's goal, allowing viewers to appreciate his unusual header from different angles.

Actually, it wasn't very clear in the live broadcast; all we knew was that Wang Lie headed the ball into the net.

It's just puzzling: how did that ball go in?

Now, through a camera angle behind the back post, everyone can finally see clearly how the ball went in.

After Wang Lie turned his head in mid-air, his forehead struck the soccer ball, causing it to trace an exaggerated... no, an extremely exaggerated arc in the air!
From this angle, if you ignore the football's intense spinning motion and only look at its direction of flight, it looks like it's flying straight towards the camera at this position, and might even crash into the camera lens.

But the football didn't fly like that; instead, it made a turn in the air!
Then it went into the goal!

Everyone who witnessed this scene had one thought in their mind:
What the heck?! How did we end up in there? Was the wind too strong? Or did some unseen hand push us?
Upon seeing the goal, the wife next to her husband held her head in her hands, stared wide-eyed, and looked on in disbelief. Then she turned to look at her husband, Luke Milne, who was sitting next to her.

The latter, however, stared calmly at the television screen, which surprised his wife even more.
"How were you able to remain calm in the face of a goal like that?"

Milne shook his head and said, "Because I know the King well enough. This is not something incredible or absolutely impossible for him."

His wife was even more surprised: "You guessed he would score this goal beforehand? But there was obviously an element of luck involved, wasn't there?"

Milne nodded. "Of course, there was an element of luck in that shot," he said, "and a significant one at that."

"Then why are you still..." His wife was even more puzzled.

Milne explained to her:

"I mean, I know Wang won't let any opportunity slip by, whether it's good or bad, whether there's a chance of scoring, or how likely it is—he doesn't think that much before he shoots; he just gives it his all..."

His wife suddenly understood: "No wonder he was called a 'wasteful shooter' when he was at Sofia. It turns out that other people might not even want to shoot at the same ball..."

Milne said very seriously, "Yes. Those people only saw that Wang had many shots in one game, and none of them went in. But they didn't see that without Wang, those shots wouldn't have existed. Wang created those shooting opportunities through his own efforts. Although the conversion rate was low, those were opportunities that came out of nowhere. What does it matter if the conversion rate is a little low?"

"Everyone scores a lucky goal sometimes. But why is it always Wang who scores such incredible goals? Isn't it because he never lets go of any possible scoring opportunity, even if it's not an opportunity at all..."

"Is that why you just said Marvin doesn't understand the king?" his wife asked.

Milne nodded and said:

"Yes, that idiot Marvin only saw Shapman's team parking the bus in the penalty area, using two players to mark Wang, trying to use numerical superiority to prevent him from scoring, and he thought Sofia United's tactics were wrong. He didn't know that from Wang's perspective, there was no question of whether there was a chance, or how good or bad the chance was; as long as he was in front of the goal, he had a chance. "On the contrary, McNeil understands Wang, which is why he had his team play this way, precisely to complement Wang. He knows that with Wang's ability, even against an opponent who parks the bus, he can still score and extend the lead..."

Actually, not all of these plays are as good as Milne said; Tyne also has his off days.

For example, in the first Champions League match against Atlético Lille, they launched a barrage of attacks after taking the lead, but failed to score. Instead, Atlético Lille scored two goals in quick succession, and they almost lost.

But for Milne, who understands football, such minor details wouldn't affect his conclusions.

No one can guarantee that their tactics will be 100% effective; ultimately, only the results of the match can prove it.

As long as you win, it's a good tactic, no matter how thrilling the process was...

If you lose the game, then even the most brilliant tactics are flawed.

This is perfectly exemplified in the current Sofia United team.

When Mehler Shapman's performance was inconsistent at the beginning of the league, both his three-defender and four-defender tactics were heavily criticized by the media.

After a three-game winning streak, the media began to rave about Shapman's tactics, claiming he had found the winning formula for Sofia United.

But whether you win or lose, the tactics are still the same, and the players are still the same. It's just because the result of the game is different that the evaluation and assessment are completely opposite.

Is it ironic?
No, that's the reality of the football world.

Therefore, Tyne, who has not lost a game since the beginning of the season, should not be blamed; the results show that their tactical arrangements are not the problem.

If bystanders insist on pointing out flaws in their tactics, they should wait until they lose the game. Otherwise, they risk being proven wrong—especially considering that Tyne has Wang Lie on the court, which increases the likelihood of them being proven wrong.

Marvin Block got slapped in the face by Wang Lie just because he couldn't hold back.

※※※

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha!"

Zhao Zhou laughed triumphantly in the live broadcast room, even becoming somewhat "unrestrained" with his pride.

But it doesn't matter, nobody cares about these details.

There are many more people who are even more smug than him.

"Do you know what Wang Lie is best at? It's slapping people in the face!"

Zhao Zhou said this after he finished laughing.

Even after Wang Lie scored a goal, the trolls in the live chat didn't stop.

Because Zhao Zhou previously said that Wang Lie hadn't scored in the first ten minutes, the haters started making a huge fuss.

These critics then retaliated in kind, mocking Zhao Zhou:
Scoring just one goal has caused a huge uproar!

So Zhao Zhou's statement is a response to those haters who have been making a huge fuss.

The reason he didn't mention the low number of goals before was because he knew that Wang Lie was unlikely to score only one goal in this match, and he believed that everyone should assume that this was the case.

I never expected that the haters would actually come looking for trouble on this issue.

Then he didn't hold back and swung his arm to slap these idiots across the face!
"So what if we tighten our defense? So what if we park the bus in the penalty area? So what if two people are marking Wang Lie? We still score! Not only do we score, but we score beautiful goals! What a brilliant 'looking back at the moon' move! In just two matches, Wang Lie has already scored eight goals against Sofia United, but I know this is not over yet! It's definitely not over until Sofia United completely eliminates Jonathan Hall!"

Although it was an official live stream, PiliPili is, after all, a subculture website. Despite the platform growing bigger and bigger, from focusing on anime and manga to now producing all kinds of content, it still naturally retains a grassroots character compared to traditional television media.

Therefore, Zhao Zhou, being a mediocre commentator, couldn't possibly adhere to the same professional principles as Luo Jin. During the match, he blatantly revealed his bias: "Today, I'm supporting Chinese player Wang Lie, so what? I'm Chinese, if I don't cheer for a Chinese player, am I supposed to mourn for an English team? Big clubs? English big clubs don't work on us Chinese!"
※※※

Wang Lie did not celebrate after scoring. He landed with a spin and staggered a bit. He then reflexively grabbed Tyler Murphy behind him to avoid landing on the slippery grass.

He then released Murphy, turned and walked towards the edge of the penalty area, without even glancing back at the ball in the goal.

As for Tyler Murphy, whose jersey was being used as a "crutch" by Wang Lie, he stood there dumbfounded, not even noticing that Wang Lie was using him as a "crutch"...

It was bound to happen; Wang Lie scored his second goal of the match.

For Tyler Murphy, who experienced a 0-9 defeat in the previous game, Wang Lie should feel fortunate, and perhaps even proud, to have only scored his second goal so far.

But Murphy didn't think that way at all, because he knew it wasn't because Sofia or he himself had made any remarkable progress in the past few months...

Actually, nothing has changed.

What Wang said before the match was true; it was his honest opinion.

He wasn't trying to play psychological games or engage in verbal sparring with them before the match.

So even after Heldon was gone, the king never let go of his hatred for Jonathan Hall...

Thinking about this, Tyler Murphy suddenly realized something:
Does this mean that as long as Jonathan Hall is still employed by Sofia United, Wang will always be as aggressive as he was in these two matches when facing us?

He suddenly shuddered.

Then I looked up at the sky.

The rain shows no signs of letting up.

He found that the night rain in early November was unusually cold, feeling like the depths of winter.

※※※

This time, at least Meler Shapman didn't stand motionless on the sidelines like a wooden statue after conceding a goal.

He leaned back and shouted to the sky.

He let the cold rain pelt his face.

He made specific plans to target Wang Lie before the game, and his players followed his plans to focus their defense on Wang Lie during the game.

But the result remained unchanged; Wang Lie still scored!
This is really depressing.

Let's not even talk about the first goal conceded; it was Stephen Trave's own mistake that gave Wang Lie the opportunity to shoot from outside the penalty area.

There's nothing we can do about it; it was an accident.

But this second goal... was completely a result of Wang Lie shattering his carefully laid out defensive tactics!
In other words, Mailer Shapman lost in his contest with Wang Lie.

Although the game wasn't over yet, and there was still plenty of time left, Shapman didn't know how to adjust his strategy to defend against Wang Lie.

He was truly out of options.

The rain hit his face, making him frown.

The rain today was exceptionally cold, as if a chill had been emanating from him, making him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

He knew that although the game wasn't over yet, his coaching career at Sofia United should have ended today...

(End of this chapter)