Team Spirit

Chapter 240 Rematch with Lyon: The Battle for the Best Free Kick Among Active Players

Dongqiudi: "A series of moves that seem to leave you standing still, but upon closer inspection, you'll see you're as fierce as a tiger! Even the second-generation Green can proudly call themselves a triple champion!"

Sky Sports: "Datford's second-best player of the match is equivalent to every other team's best player, because Lukay's score is almost always the highest!"

The Times: "Datford completes sixth consecutive EFL Cup title; fans suggest the EFL rename the competition the 'Green League Cup'!"

Bild: "The League Cup is Dartford's comfort zone? No, it's their dominance zone!"

Tuttosport: "Ten goals and two assists! Lu Kai wins EFL Cup Player of the Year and Golden Boot awards!"

France Football: "The second generation of Green still needs time to grow, but until then, Lu Kai can protect them from the wind and rain!"

Green Phase II suddenly went from being a target for anyone to criticize to being highly sought after.

From a rebuilding perspective, winning three championships in the first year is an absolute success.

Green Gun's season has come to an end, and no one dares to say it wasn't a success.

Besides, they are still in the Champions League.

With each step forward, including ticket revenue, the total revenue approaches ten million euros.

Although they are still at a disadvantage in terms of strength when facing Lyon in the second leg.

Having four away goals in hand is certainly an advantage, isn't it?

On Friday, Sky Sports' renowned football commentator Gary Lineker published an interview with Lu Kai.

The theme of this interview is: How can a weak team win a championship? Choice is more important than effort!

The subtitle is "My Gambling Life".

Lineker: "Lu, thank you for accepting my interview."

Lu Kai: "It is my honor."

Lineker: "Let's get straight to the point. The Celtics have received a lot of criticism this season, but it seems like you've weathered the storm now?"

Lu Kai shook his head with a smile: "I don't think those criticisms are correct. It's unfair to criticize the second generation of Green Generation using the same standards that were applied to the first generation of Green Generation."

"But it's too early to say we've made it through. We'll have to wait and see after the second leg against Lyon."

Lineker: "So what about you? Are you satisfied with your performance so far this season?"

Lu Kai nodded: "That's without a doubt. Despite the team's weakness, in terms of individual performance, I should be the best player so far, without exception."

Lineker: "You're very confident."

Lu Kai: "As the world's number one active player, I must have this confidence. Otherwise, it would be an insult to all players."

Reinkel: "Can you share some tips on how to get honor with the Green Gun?"

Lu Kai: "Of course, I've always believed that choices are very important. We don't currently have the ability to compete for the Premier League title, so we're focusing on cup competitions."

"As everyone has seen, we've become a triple crown winner, neither a big nor a small one."

Lineker: "So what are your goals for next season? Continue to focus on cup competitions, or shift your focus to the Premier League?"

Lu Kai thought for a moment: "I hope we can give equal importance to both. We need to make it into the European qualification zone in the Premier League, and win at least one trophy in cup competitions."

This interview had a relatively small impact on fans, but it was repeatedly watched by major clubs, especially smaller ones.

They began to learn "the wisdom of green gun choices".

Industry insiders are certain that this will intensify the competition for championships in various events.

Even seemingly insignificant events may see fierce competition.

March 4th, the 28th round of the Premier League.

Dartford drew 2-2 away to West Ham United.

Lu Kai made an unusual rotation of players in preparation for the Champions League.

On March 7, the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 match kicked off at the Green Penguin Stadium.

Forty-five thousand fans gathered at the scene, their passion and enthusiasm burning brightly.

Green flames danced throughout the arena.

The atmosphere was even more enthusiastic than at Lyon's home ground.

After all, although Lyon is the dominant force in Ligue 1, Green Gun is a European miracle, so his overall popularity is naturally higher!
"Great, I'm Huang. Lyon's lineup is very strong in this match; they've even adopted an aggressive 4-1-3-2 diamond formation."

"The two strikers are Benzema and Wiltord."

"One is experienced, the other is young. The former is strong and fast, and is considered the French player most likely to grow into Ronaldo after Anelka!"

"The latter is experienced and highly capable, and the two complement each other perfectly."

"The midfield consists of a large diamond formation, with Malouda and Govou as the left and right wingers respectively, Juninho as the attacking midfielder, and Diarra as the defensive midfielder."

"This kind of positioning is relatively loose and does not perform well on the defensive end, mainly due to the emptiness in the midfield."

"But on the offensive end, they can commit up to six players to the frontcourt and make full use of the width of the field, making them very difficult to defend against."

"There haven't been many changes to the defense: Abidal, Casapa, Chris, and Rewie."

"Goalkeeper Coupet".

The commentators all focused on the new faces compared to the previous game.

Govou is a member of the French national team and will become France's worst number 10 in major tournaments. He is a very sharp but relatively unproductive winger.

His highest-scoring season was only sixteen goals.

Liverpool are currently the most active suitors for him, and the transfer can be completed as long as Lyon finds a replacement.

At least this is the current tacit understanding among the three parties.

But Lu Kai knew that Govou ultimately failed to join Liverpool because Lyon refused to release him at the last minute.

This is very damaging to Gowu.

In fact, Lyon has a replacement, and by stepping forward with Ben Arfa, they may be able to make both players successful at once.

Unfortunately, they are too conservative.

Their long-standing domestic dominance has robbed them of the courage to give opportunities to young people.

If it weren't for the injury to center forward Kalou, young Benzema wouldn't have been in the starting lineup for this match.

"The Green Gunner's lineup is a 4-4-2."

"Lu Kai, Jiru"

"Vardy, Barton, Pepe, Ribery"

Ashley Young, Vidic, Kompany, Li Weifeng

"Van der Sar"

"This lineup involves very obvious trade-offs."

"With Lu Kai moving forward, the intensity of Green Gun's midfield inevitably weakened. Therefore, they had to deploy two defensive midfielders to ensure the defense in the middle."

"In this way, the task of attacking and advancing can only be left to the two flanks."

"Green Gun's tactics will become monotonous as a result."

"It is understood that this is also related to Motta's injury. Dartford currently lacks a defensive midfielder like Motta who has a very high level of defensive ability and also has excellent attacking ability."

"Pepe is Motta's substitute, but he hasn't developed his attacking skills yet. He's only somewhat good at long passes."

"Meanwhile, midfielders like Modric and Chen Tao are not physically capable enough to fill the role of defensive midfielder."

To reiterate, if Lu Kai moves to midfield, Green Gunners' midfield talent pool is more than sufficient; in fact, it's overflowing.

However, this season, Lu Kai has mainly played on the front line.

This means that Green Gun's midfield will encounter some problems from time to time.

Modric, as the team's core player, also needs time.

With a whistle, the game officially began.

Dartford kicks off.

After Giroud passed the ball to Lu Kai, he started his forward run.

At the same time, Vardy on the center circle, Ashley Young on the left, and Ribery on the right all made decisive forward runs.

Lu Kai then passed the ball back to Pepe and ran towards the backcourt.

Benzema charged toward Pepe, but Pepe didn't make any mistakes and passed the ball back to Kompany.

Benzema continued running towards Kompany.

Kompany passed the ball to Lu Kai, who came over to receive it.

Thanks to his top-notch vision, Lu Kai was very clear about his surroundings.

He let the ball go, turned around, caught up with the ball, and made a long pass.

The football soared into the sky.

This was a long pass with a strong backspin.

The distance isn't far.

Because Lu Kai was looking for Giroud, who was halfway through his charge.

His position was not at the very front.

Vardy, Young, Ribery, and others helped him push the defense out. Giroud easily appeared at the landing point and flicked the ball on with a header.

The football, which is already spinning forward, uses momentum to increase its speed.

Moreover, it drops sharply downwards and bounces back to a relatively low height.

This unpredictable movement caused Casapa, who was trying to intercept the ball, to make a mistake.

The ball broke through Lyon's defense.

The next moment, Vardy, with his explosive speed, broke the mold and launched a one-on-one attack.

"This is blitzkrieg!"

"Green Gun launches a lightning attack!"

"Coupe strikes."

"Vardy fires a low shot."

"One-on-one, who will be the final winner... Goal!"

"Datford scored a lightning-fast goal less than a minute into the game! A dream start!"

"Vardy, GOAL!!!"

The golden crown atop the green penguin, the stadium's iconic logo, began to shimmer.

Various golden lights also flashed throughout the venue, which is called "divine light synchronization".

The Lyon players are not yet fully in form.

They didn't expect Green Gun to be so unrestrained.

I thought Green Gun was going to play defensively the whole game.

But on their own court, the Green Gunners have never lacked the courage to pull off some crazy antics.

"The most ingenious part of this fast break was Lu Kai's retreat."

"You wouldn't believe it, even when playing as a center forward, Lu Kai can still launch a counter-attack with a long pass from the defensive midfield position."

"He truly is one of the world's top metronomes; he can make you completely forget about Motta!"

"If Pepe could learn even 30% of Lu Kai's skills, he could become a top-class defensive midfielder."

The commentator was lavish in his praise of Lu Kai.

As the instigator of attacks, the honors received far more than those for assists and goals. This trend originated in Barcelona, ​​flourished under Ronaldinho, and reached its peak with Lionel Messi.

But Lyon's counterattack was equally fierce.

In the third minute, Govou collided with Ashley Young repeatedly, made a powerful run down the wing, and delivered a cross.

Wiltord made a forward run to receive the pass and delivered a cutback pass from near the six-yard box.

Benzema tapped in a shot.

However, Kompany bumped into him from the side, interfering with his movement.

The football rolled towards the far corner, grazing the post and going wide.

Green Gun was a false alarm.

"Oh! Benzema was in a good position, but unfortunately his legs were too weak."

"He is still young."

In the future, with Benzema winning the Ballon d'Or, many people will forget that for a long period during his early and middle years at Real Madrid, he was known as "Benzema the Cat," and his inability to score caused countless cases of hypertension.

This is a player who needs more time to develop.

In the eighth minute, Govou received a through pass from Juninho and cut inside to shoot.

The ball went wide of the far corner again.

After all, Govou's shooting skills are no better than Benzema's.

The player with the best shooting ability on this team is actually the veteran Wiltord.

Juninho is the best at long-range shooting.

In the 13th minute, Vardy won a corner kick.

Giroud's header went just wide.

In the 21st minute, Lyon launched a sharp attack down the left flank.

Abidal pressed forward and passed the ball to Malouda.

Malouda's "bottom line, inside cut, bottom line" routine left Pepe completely bewildered.

He then passed the ball across to Juninho, and made a run forward without the ball.

Juninho Jr. dribbles past his opponent and fires a long-range shot.

The quality is very high.

Speed, force, arc, and precision are all top-notch.

However, the Green Gunners' defenders in the penalty area were positioned scientifically, blocking half of the scoring angles, leaving only the far corner.

Van der Sar was prepared and made a diving save.

But Wiltord just happened to be in front of the goal and scored on the rebound.

boom!
The football flew into the stands.

The Celtics fans were terrified.

"The ball bounced back too quickly, Wiltord didn't react in time and couldn't adjust his footwork."

"Green Gun escaped a disaster."

"But Lyon's big diamond 442 formation is just too powerful."

"You can be attacked from all sides."

This tactic and Green Gun's former "strongest left blade" are two different concepts.

The strongest left blade strikes only one point, breaking through, penetrating, and destroying that point, then generating endless variations.

The large diamond pattern can launch attacks from any of the five points in the frontcourt, and any move can be fatal, making it impossible to defend against.

In contrast, the diamond shape requires more high-caliber players.

Moreover, it demands a higher level of coordination and team synergy in the overall operation of football.

Lyon meets this condition.

Of course, their large rhombus shape is not perfect.

In fact, apart from Malouda and Juninho, the other three players in their attacking positions are somewhat lacking in strength.

Starting from Green Gun's past lineups, it's barely possible to assemble a large diamond-shaped formation.

Drogba, Forlán

Arshavin, Touré, Valbuena
Of course, you could also arrange five Lu Kais, which would be even more effective.

In the 23rd minute, Lyon continued their attack.

The big diamond's tactical variation involves using five points to keep Green Gun's defense inside the penalty area, and then passing the ball back to the advancing defensive midfielder Diarra.

This is also why Diarra, a player primarily focused on defense, scores so many goals.

His attacking talent was therefore overestimated, and he was considered a new Vieira who was good at both offense and defense.

In reality, there are very few defensive midfielders who truly possess offensive attributes; each one is a cornerstone of their team.

In the past five years, there have been fewer than ten outstanding players of this type in the football world.

However, Green Gunner has been released three times in succession: Toure, Essien, and Motta.

According to Lu Kai's training plan, Peipei may become a future star if he can control his temper.

boom!
Diarra unleashed a powerful shot.

Van der Sar made another incredible save.

The three million euros spent to bring him in was well worth it.

Based on his performance this season, 30 million euros is more like it!
The football flew to the right, and Govou made a cross.

Juninho Jr. unleashed another powerful shot from just outside the penalty area.

Vidic stepped forward and blocked the ball with his body.

In the 28th minute, a thrilling scene unfolded.

Benzema dropped back to receive the pass and then passed it to Malouda.

Instead of going to the baseline, the latter chose to cut inside, drawing a foul from Li Weifeng.

Lyon were thus awarded a free kick in an excellent position.

The camera immediately focused on Juninho and Lu Kai.

The battle for the title of best free-kick taker in the world has begun!

(End of this chapter)