Fox in the Penalty Area

Whitehouse stood in the stands at Southfield Stadium, surrounded by enthusiastic London Bridge fans, who wore their blue London Bridge home shirts and cheered on their team from the home stands.

House didn't do that.

Because he is not a fan of London Bridge.

As a former England international, he once played for the North London Rangers and later moved to the King of Madrid. He is a rare English player in the history of the King of Madrid club.

He played as a striker for the King of Madrid for four seasons, played 117 times in all competitions and scored 47 goals.

Now at the age of 51, he has already retired from the position of a professional player and has become a scout for the King of Madrid in the UK, specializing in scouting work in the UK and Ireland.

He received a call from the club on the morning of the Europa League semi-final at home at London Bridge and Leeds City, and assigned him to observe Hu Lai's performance on the spot.

As a professional scout who has been active in the British Isles for a long time, how could he not know about Hu Lai?

Even without going to the scene, House can write a detailed scouting report to the club on the spot and provide it to the club's senior management for their reference.

But he still accepted the task and went to the scene to observe Hu Lai's performance in this game.

He didn't ask why, because he more or less guessed the reason-it must have something to do with the 1-3 home loss of the King of Madrid to Manchester Athletic last night.

The team's leading scorer, Alexandra Celados, performed poorly in the game and showed his old age.

This makes the club feel a deeper sense of crisis, and can't wait to find a successor for Serrados.

So they set their sights on Hu Lai, who has been in the limelight recently.

And it's not just the Kings of Madrid...

House turned his head and looked around, and saw several of his peers just in the small stand that he could see.

They were all scouts from big clubs from continental Europe.

The competition is fierce...

But Hu Lai did deserve such treatment.

Almost from the moment he saw Hu Lai debut in the Premier League, House knew that the club had missed a talent.

After all, players who can score five goals in the first three Premier League games are really rare.

He didn't understand how the club finally decided to give up after more than five million euros...

However, the high-level decision is not something that scouts like House can discuss.

Now that the club intends to spend a high price to buy Hu Lai again, he will not laugh at the club's executives because it is not comfortable to spend too much money.

He just needs to do his job well and report all of Hu Lai's performance in this game to his superiors.

As for the final decision made by the club's top management, it is not up to him to make the decision.

And he has to be factual in his scouting reports.

Hu Lai's performance in this game is good, and if he does not perform well, he is not good. You can't add oil and vinegar to it according to your personal preferences.

As a scout for the King of Madrid, does Whitehouse want Hou Lai to go to the King of Madrid?

Of course.

Any King of Madrid supporter who watched Houlai's game will think so.

And House believes that the club's current decision is also correct.

Although yesterday's game alone cannot prove that Serrados has been unable to meet the team's requirements, it is also necessary to find a successor for him in advance.

Plan ahead.

House turned his attention back to the court.

Twenty minutes into the match, the home team London Bridge had the upper hand.

Amidst the shouts of 40,000 home fans, they suppressed Leeds City and continued to attack Leeds City's goal.

So during this period of time, Hu Lai didn't have much to do, and he didn't need to record anything in his little notebook.

※※※

In fact, it's not just that Leeds City didn't take advantage of Southfield Stadium. Looking at all eight confrontation records in the history of the two teams,

Leeds City is also at an absolute disadvantage.

In eight games, Leeds City won one game-last season, Leeds City defeated London Bridge 2:1 at home, relying on Hu Lai's long-range shot. That was the first time he scored with a long-range shot at the club.

Apart from the victory in this game, Leeds City have not won again against London Bridge.

Eight matches, one win, two draws and five losses.

This result can be described as "dismal".

So Leeds City met London Bridge in the semi-finals of the Europa League, not as some people thought, because they are familiar opponents, so they are relatively easy to play.

In the 27th minute, London Bridge launched an attack from the wing, and it was their right back Ricardo Souza who passed the ball into the penalty area.

Forward Park Chun-tae grabs a shot in front of the goal!

Football blocked by Leeds goalkeeper Mikael van der Ven!

But the crisis has not been lifted, because the football is still in the penalty area of ​​Leeds City!

There was chaos in front of the door.

The captain of London Bridge, midfielder James Montgomery grabbed the ball first in the penalty area, and he swung the football towards Leeds City's goal!

At this time, Leeds City goalkeeper Van De Ven had just got up from the ground. Seeing the football flying towards him, he could only wave his hand reflexively...he didn't touch the football at all!

"The goal is scored-!!! Beautiful! Montgomery!! He opened the scoring for the team! London Bridge leads Leeds City 1-0!"

There were thunderous cheers in the stands of Southfield Stadium.

※※※

"Oops - I still lost the ball!" Shen Lang from Tengfei Video sighed. "London Bridge's offensive was very fierce at the beginning of the game. In ten minutes, they had made three consecutive threatening attacks... At that time I said to be careful, be careful...the result still conceded the ball!"

After sighing, he cheered up the Chinese fans in front of the video: "But it's okay, Leeds City is really not good at defense, and this is at London Bridge's home court, so conceding goals is expected. Trust Clark and his team The coaching team must have considered this issue, and they have instructed the players before the game... Losing the ball is not terrible, as long as you quickly adjust your mentality and don't fall into chaos, I believe that with the offensive strength of Leeds City, there is still a chance!"

How about a chance?

Shen Lang didn't say anything, but most of the fans watching the game could guess it.

There is a chance to score a goal.

Considering that this game is an away game, even if Leeds City loses 1:2, it is completely acceptable. If it is really impossible to score, a score of 0:1 is fine. As long as they don't return to the home court with a net loss of two goals, the game is considered to have completed the task.

Television footage cuts from the celebrating London Bridge players to the goal-lost side.

Sure enough, the Leeds City players in the camera did not show the frustration and pain after losing the ball, as if they were really mentally prepared for losing the ball...

Field captain Pete Williams was clapping his hands hard and yelling at his teammates around him.

It should be boosting morale and boosting people's hearts.

The head coach Clark on the sidelines did not show significant body language movements after losing the ball.

He also stood on the sidelines and told the players on the field with gestures: keep calm and don't panic.

This is also normal operation.

The game has only started in less than half an hour, and Leeds City still has time, so there is no need to worry now.

※※※

The London Bridge players ended their celebration and returned to their own half. The Leeds City players are already in their positions, waiting for their return.

When Captain Montgomery ran past the Leeds City players, he turned his head and glanced at them. He didn't see pain, nor depression, nor even... numbness.

I saw some eager to try...

Eager to try?

hell!

Montgomery was a little surprised.

Why are Leeds City players who conceded the ball eager to try?

Did you read it wrong?

He took another look and found that he was right.

The Leeds City players stood in their positions, leaning slightly forward. Hu Lai, who was standing in the middle circle and kicked off, even jumped up and down, as if waiting to be replaced.

Pete Williams and Montgomery looked at each other, and Montgomery even saw a hint of urging in each other's eyes.

They seem to be... urging the London Bridge players to take their positions.

They want to get the game started!

After confirming that it was not his illusion, Montgomery raised his arms, and then shouted loudly to his teammates and his teammates who had already run away:

"Don't take it lightly! We are only one goal ahead! Against them, one goal lead is not enough! Keep attacking!"

※※※

With the whistle of the referee, Leeds kicked off and the game restarted.

After taking the lead, London Bridge took advantage of this momentum, quickly regained control of the ball, and launched a fierce attack on Leeds City's goal.

They hope to strike while the iron is hot and score another goal in a short period of time after taking the lead.

If they can lead by two goals in the first half, London Bridge will completely grasp the initiative and take a solid step towards the Europa League final.

But Leeds City, who lost the ball, did not panic.

Facing the onslaught of London Bridge, they steadied themselves.

Also try to fight back a bit.

"Fortunately, the current London Bridge is not led by Tavares..." Assistant coach Sam Randyll said to Clark on the sidelines. "Otherwise, if they shrink back to defend after leading by one goal, we will not be able to play well..."

The London Bridge before this season was coached by Portuguese coach Miguel Tavares. The London Bridge under his coaching attaches great importance to defense, and it can even be said to be a "1:0ist".

However, not only did they fail to lead London Bridge to the league title last season, they even did not even qualify for the Champions League. So after the end of the season, the London Bridge Club terminated his contract and hired the well-known German marshal Julian Stoud to coach.

Stodd was coached in the Bundesliga team Saxony Stadt last season. He coached this former Bundesliga giant for three seasons and brought this mid-lower team that only returned to the Bundesliga in 2015 to the league. Third, qualify for the Champions League in the new season.

The 40-year-old Stodd is also a rising star among the young coaches in Europe.

The more passionate Todd has changed the phenomenon of London Bridge's serious bias in the past. Under his command, London Bridge changed to 433. On the basis of relying on the original defensive system, the offense was stronger, and the results were naturally better.

They are currently ranked fourth in the league and have reached the semi-finals of the Europa League.

It is very hopeful to qualify for the Champions League next season and also win the Europa League.

For London Bridge, it has ushered in a new life in a sense.

"What are you afraid of, Sam? We just played against the best defensive team and scored three goals against them." Clark covered his mouth and said.

Hearing this, Randyll lowered his head and smiled.

Really, if you want to really talk about the defensive strength of a single game, even London Bridge under Tavares can't compare with Ferenc in the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

So if London Bridge really wants to shrink its defense, Leeds City doesn't have to worry too much. They have experience dealing with dense defenses.

But it's just as good, or better.

After all, no one likes to kick a ball against a wall.

Stord's London Bridge is better at attacking.

Coincidentally, Leeds City is also good at attacking.