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Chapter 311 The key issue is the crux of the problem.
Ribeiro clears the ball with a header!

"Wang—that was a beautiful stop! Accelerate! He's shaken off Harris!"

"Wang keeps dribbling! No one from Tyne is there to support him! He's the one leading the charge for Tyne!"

"Sorfu United's defense is collectively retreating! They're afraid to push forward and intercept the ball!"

"Telvi!"

"Wang! Fake shot, real dunk!"

"They've gotten past one!"

"Another one slipped away!"

"Wang! Shoot!!"

"Goal!! Beautiful! Beautiful!! An unbelievable goal! An incredible performance! Wang practically single-handedly broke through the entire stadium! He has once again scored a hat-trick against Sofia United! Look at this magnificent goal! Wang is completely inspecting Sofia United's defense! He dribbled the ball from the backfield all the way to the front, and no one could stop him! Sofia United's three defenders looked like football beginners in front of him, completely bewildered!"

"Sorford United had built up momentum and launched attacks, and their fans must have been fantasizing about their team launching a desperate counterattack... But unfortunately, conceding a goal at this crucial moment was a fatal blow to Soford United's morale!"

Speakers throughout the bar evenly filled the space with the familiar voice of commentator Connor Cowley, ensuring that everyone, whether sitting at the bar or in a corner, could hear him.

Actually, the bar had become quite quiet ever since Wang Lie started to shake off Stanley Harris, so even without the sound system that was spread throughout the bar, everyone could clearly hear what the commentator was saying...

The reason they quieted down was that the Sofia United fans in the audience had already guessed what was going to happen next.

"Ugh……"

Someone sighed as they saw Wang Lie score the goal.

Bar owner Dylan Newell shook his head and said, "I knew it..."

Such a scene is not unfamiliar to Sofia fans – when Sofia encounters trouble in a game and cannot extricate themselves, they will habitually turn their attention to Wang Lie and place their hopes on him.

And most of the time, this man did not disappoint them, always managing to turn the tide in various ways.

Everyone had gotten used to it and naturally assumed it would continue like this until Wang Lie retired.

When he retires at Sofia, the area outside Redstone Stadium will likely be packed with Sofia fans, and fans all over the world will want to be there to witness that historic moment.

In fact, the people in this bar had discussed this matter more than once, imagining what a grand scene it would be when the greatest player from Sofia in the last fifty years retired...

At that time, no one could have imagined that Wang Lie would leave Sofia before retiring, and in such a way that it was almost a complete falling out.

It wasn't until Wang Lie left that everyone was surprised to discover that Wang Lie had actually played for Sofia for less than ten years—they always thought that this great player, who could definitely rank among the top five in Sofia's history, had been with the club for many years, but they never expected that it had only been nine and a half years!
"Damn it! It's all that bastard Heldon's fault! He ruined everything!"

Finally, someone in the quiet bar started yelling.

However, such criticism did not receive agreement or support, but rather rebuttal.

"What does this have to do with Heldon? Shouldn't it be Jonathan Hall's responsibility? He was the one who chose Heldon..."

“Wang is right! The root of Sofia United’s problems lies with this American manager who knows nothing! A football club manager is running a football club… Has the American lost his mind? Does he think all ‘football’ is the same?!”

"But it's said that even Sir Perkins agreed to Huldon's selection..."

"The club only consulted the Jazz, but didn't say that the Jazz agreed!"

"Sir Perkins was consulted, and he didn't object, which means he agreed, right? That idiot Hall doesn't understand football, so does that mean Sir Perkins doesn't understand football either, or doesn't he know anything about Sofia United?"

Because of Wang Lie's goal, the people in the bar started arguing.

The debate continues with the same old question: who should be held responsible for Sofia's current dismal state?

Sven Heldon?
Or is it Jonathan Hall?
Or perhaps someone else...

During the argument, Alex Raven, who had remained silent the whole time, suddenly stood up.

As he stood up, the chair slid backward, scraping against the floor with a loud, piercing noise.

It attracted everyone's attention.

Everyone's eyes turned to the key figure in the bar.

Raven looked at them and said, "Why can't it be John Buckle's problem? Who chose Sven Heldon as head coach? Jonathan Hall. And who made that idiot Hall the club's general manager? John Buckle. So why can't it be Buckle's problem?"

The bar fell silent again.

They were quiet, not because Raven had said anything particularly shocking—it wasn't the first time Raven had said something like that, and they were tired of hearing it.

The reason for the silence was that Raven's words had essentially killed the conversation.

One person said, "Of course we know that all the problems started when the American businessman bought the team. But Alex, what's the point of knowing that? What can we do to change anything? If the pressure is high enough, the head coach can be fired, and even the general manager can be replaced, after all, they're all working for the owner. But what about the owner? How do you replace the owner? Who can replace the owner?"

The others nodded in agreement.

This is the crux of the problem that everyone gets when discussing the root of Sofia's problems—even if everyone knows where the real problem lies, they can only pretend not to know, hover around the periphery, and find some people to take the blame.

It's not that they're afraid to get to the heart of the issue; they're not afraid of an American capitalist.

They were simply feeling desperate because even knowing who was at fault, they were powerless to do anything about it.

You know where the problem lies, but if you can't solve it, what's the point of discussing it?

Instead, let's talk about solutions with practical value.

For example, changing coaches, buying better players...

In reality, replacing the general manager isn't an easy solution to implement. So for most fans, their outbursts against Jonathan Hall and demands for his dismissal aren't necessarily driven by a belief that shouting will actually fire the American manager; they're simply venting their emotions.

This also puts pressure on the club's management – ​​don't think that just because you're messing things up, we really don't care.

They also hope that Hall can still have some professionalism and genuinely want to run the Sofia United club well, just like he did when he managed the Los Angeles Stars football club in the United States.

He worked at the club for eight years, bringing four championships to the club.

The Los Angeles Stars are also a powerhouse in American football, just like Sofia United.

Since he was able to win four championships in Los Angeles, maybe he could also win four league championships in eight years with Sofia United... right?

After the man said that, Alex Raven didn't refute him, because they had discussed this topic many times before, and he also knew that it was unsolvable.

However, this time is a little different from before.

Instead of sitting down to drink, Raven turned and left.

The bar owner, Dylan Newell, called out to him, somewhat surprised, "Aren't you going to watch the game?"

Raven didn't turn around or stop, but waved his hand and said, "I'm not watching anymore, this isn't the Soforth League I want to watch."

After saying that, he pushed open the bar door and walked straight out.

The people in the bar turned to watch his departing figure, and no one uttered a sound.

Only after the door was closed again did everyone turn their attention away.

Then look at the TV screen.

On that side, Wang Lie walked back to Tyne's half of the court.

Playing against his former team at their home stadium, after completing a hat trick, his face remained expressionless—neither joy nor sorrow.

He walked back without any expression on his face.

He saved his team once again, but this time it wasn't Sofia United.

The television camera then panned across the faces of several key Sofia players, each with the same expression:
There was no anger, no mutual blame, but only numbness and bewilderment.

They were like people who had just woken up from a beautiful dream, only to find themselves still stuck in a quagmire.

The talk of "turning the tide against all odds," "the counterattack starts now," and "restoring the glory of Sofia United"... is nothing but their illusion.

The final close-up shot of the Sofia camp was of head coach Meler Shapman.

The head coach was still standing in the rain, his suit and shirt completely soaked and clinging to his body, making him look like a drowned rat, quite disheveled.

He remained silent, maintaining the same expressionless posture he had during the first half.

No one can discern what he's thinking from such a close-up shot.

"Ahahahaha!"

Zhao Zhou burst into laughter in the live broadcast room.

Yes, he started shaking again.

"A hat-trick! Wang Lie has scored another hat-trick against Sofia United! Keep in mind he's only played against Sofia United four times, and he already has three hat-tricks—if we count the six goals from the last match as two hat-tricks, that's four hat-tricks! That's an average of one hat-trick per game! Wow, Sofia United might just replace Scorsese as the number one opponent in Wang Lie's career!"

When Wang Lie was still at Atlético Barcelona, ​​he had faced Sofia United twice in the Champions League.

That's for the 2024-2025 season.

Wang Lie scored a total of four goals in those two matches—one in the first leg and a hat-trick in the second.

With his four goals over two legs, Atlético Barcelona eliminated Sofia United in the Champions League round of 16.

Despite being eliminated from the Champions League, then-Sorford United manager Yannas Biermann approached then-general manager Matt Perkins after the match, urging him to make sure Wang Lie was signed.

Coincidentally, Perkins had the same idea and was going to ask the head coach for his opinion on Wang Lie.

The two hit it off immediately.

Wang Lie made an offer for Atlético Barcelona that summer.

But Barcelona rejected him.

In the recently concluded 2024-2025 season, Wang Lie achieved the best season of his career: scoring 28 goals in the league and 9 goals in the Copa del Rey, helping the team win both the league and Copa del Rey titles.

He scored ten goals in the Champions League, and although he couldn't help his team win the Champions League title, he won the Golden Boot that season with ten goals.

He scored 63 goals in all competitions throughout the season, the most of his career.

To date, only his two peak seasons at Sofia have surpassed this number.

At the time, Atlético Barcelona would certainly not have wanted to sell Wang Lie to Sofia United.

However, Perkins did not give up. He tried every summer after that, so much so that the transfer rumors between Wang Lie and Sofia United became a regular feature of every transfer window during those years.

Following Wang Lie's decline in performance during the 2025-2026 season, Sofia United submitted another offer for Atlético Barcelona in the summer of 2026. This time, Atlético Barcelona agreed, but Wang Lie did not accept.

He was unwilling to leave Atlético Barcelona and wanted to compete with Ronaldo, who had just joined the team, for a core position.

But he failed.

So in the summer of 2027, Sofia United made another offer for Wang Lie.

This time, Wang Lie finally agreed.

Perkins got his wish and acquired an "Angry Bull".

After that, Wang Lie's goal tally against Sofia United remained at four until he left Sofia United and joined Tyne United.

So far, he has scored nine goals against Sofia United, bringing his total to thirteen goals.

He scored a total of twenty-eight goals against the Scorsese.

The difference seems huge, more than double.

However, considering that Wang Lie scored thirteen goals against Sofia in less than four games, while his twenty-eight goals against Scots almost took him his entire career, it doesn't seem like something absolutely impossible...

However, these words were extremely offensive to Sofia United fans.

Of course, there aren't many Sofia United fans left in China. Most Sofia United fans support Wang Lie and all his criticisms of the club.

Regardless of whether Wang Lie's opinions are valuable for changing Sofia United, the right thing to do is to support Wang Lie in managing the club!

So even though Zhao Zhou's words were so harsh, no one was really upset.

If anyone claiming to be a Sofia United fan expresses dissatisfaction with this, they are most likely a troll.

When dealing with this kind of jerk, don't hold back, just go all out.

Because many times, Wang Lie is disliked by other players' fans because of these troublemakers.

For Zhao Zhou, Wang Lie completing a hat trick meant that the mission was accomplished.

Regardless of whether Wang Lie scores or not in this match, no one dares to criticize his performance.

Haters have something to say about one ball, and they have something to say about two balls.

What about a hat trick?

Hat trick can be criticized... Are the haters' brains filled with shit and piss?
Moreover, he wasn't worried that Sofia United could turn the game around. As a seasoned fan, he knew all too well how heavy a blow Wang Lie's goal had been to Sofia United.

Because he had witnessed similar scenes many times in Wang Lie's matches before—the opponent would burn their inner strength and launch a crazy counterattack, only to be slapped to the ground by Wang Lie with a single palm strike.

"...I can say right now that the game is over, and the outcome is completely decided! It's not that those three goals are insurmountable obstacles for Sofia United...it's that Wang Lie is the insurmountable mountain for Sofia United! I think Sofia United understands this better than any other team! So what are they still struggling for!"

※※※

While Wang Lie had thrown Murphy and Vitaly off balance, Stanley Harris had already caught up—after being left behind by Wang Lie, he didn't stop or give up the chase, but instead ran as fast as he could. After all, as a fan of Wang Lie, "never giving up" is a quality that must be learned.

He wasn't slow; theoretically, he should have been able to catch up with Wang Lie quickly when running without the ball.

However, Wang Lie maintained excellent rhythm throughout his dribbling, only slowing down when he reached the edge of the penalty area and faced three defenders, preventing Harris from closing the gap significantly.

He watched from behind as Wang Lie dribbled past Travi, outmaneuvering Captain Murphy and Vitaly.

The movements are light and graceful, with natural transitions, possessing a unique aesthetic appeal.

Even though he was the opponent, he was mesmerized by the sight—that figure reminded him of someone he had seen on live television when he was a child.

That was the kind of demeanor Wang Lie displayed at his peak.

So, in the competition, I was facing a China Wang at his peak?

This is truly a despairing fact...

As a player for Sofia United, he was aware of the club's internal problems.

At first, everyone did think the problem came from Sven Heldon, who ostracized Wang Lie, causing tension in the locker room and turning Wang Lie into an enemy that Sofia United had to face.

Therefore, as long as they can get rid of Heldon, they can show goodwill to Wang Lie.

If a capable head coach is brought in, the team can pull itself out of its slump and be reborn.

But everyone has seen what's going on in the new season.

Stanley Harris also realized that Sofia United's problems couldn't be solved simply by changing a head coach.

Perhaps Wang is right; what Sofia United needs to replace is its general manager.

But... what does this have to do with me?
I'm just an ordinary player. Even if the club wants to change its general manager, they won't consider my opinion as a player.

All I can do is give it my all in the game and try my best to bring victory to the team.

Before this match, Stanley Harris didn't have any of those messy thoughts compared to his last encounter with Wang Lie.

He believes that maintaining a calm mindset will help him perform better in this match.

In fact, he did perform better in this match than in the previous encounter.

He was involved in all of the team's threatening offensive plays.

Right after the start of the second half, he genuinely believed he could help the team score at least one goal.

When a team is down by two goals, if they can pull one back, their morale and confidence will be restored.

Even if he tried his best, it still couldn't compare to Wang Lie's single charge.

For a moment, watching his idol turn and walk away after scoring, Stanley Harris was somewhat bewildered, unsure of what to do next.

(End of this chapter)