Reverse.

Chapter 56 Give Me the Ball
"Okay, with the referee's whistle, the second half of the game begins! In the first half, both sides scored three goals in total, and the score was 1:2. Tyne, playing at home, is temporarily behind the Scouse team. During the halftime break, neither team made any personnel adjustments..."

Zhao Chuanfeng continued Luo Jin's words and said, "It's the same as what we analyzed during the halftime break. In fact, the tactics of the two head coaches in the first half were very clear, and both teams played what the coaches asked. So it's unlikely that they would make substitutions during the halftime break. Both head coaches should be satisfied with their team's performance in the first half."

"Yes, Coach Zhao is right." Luo Jin continued, "Both teams performed poorly in the first half after they lost the ball. I believe that after a 15-minute break at halftime, their mentality should be fine."

Zhao Chuanfeng laughed: "We scored a goal within one minute of kicking off in the first half. I wonder if it will be the same in the second half..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the match time jumped to one minute.

At this time, the football was still circulating in the Scouse team's half.

It took one minute for the Scouse players to pass the ball from the center circle to the backcourt.

However, the Tyne players did not press as aggressively as they did in the first half.

Except for Vitini and Dean who were slightly more active, everyone else just pressed forward appropriately and did not retreat to the back half.

Even Wang Lie, the nominal center, was positioned behind Dean and Vitini and did not rush to the front line.

"It looks like Tyne doesn't want to grab the start in the second half..." said Connor Cowley.

Joe Wesley sneered: "They obviously learned the lesson of rushing to get the ball started in the first half. Facing the stronger Scouse people, Tyne should put himself in the right position and defend and counterattack. That's the right way."

Seeing that the competition was not intense during this period, the TV broadcast simply cut to a close-up shot of Wang Lie.

As the focus of this game, he certainly deserves such treatment.

Connor Cowley said: "Wang's position on the court seems to have retreated, not like a center forward, more like a midfielder..."

Wesley continued to laugh: "That's correct. For Wang, who is already 38 years old, it's in his physical condition to gradually move back. If he moves back a little, he can use his experience and skills to help the team. If he continues to stay in the front, he will only become a burden to the team. Because in that case, Tyne will inevitably tilt all the offensive resources on him, and it will be difficult for him to have the scoring efficiency of his youth. So..."

Although he was not in the broadcast camera, he shrugged:

"So the team will have trouble attacking. Their passes are like kicking into a black hole, and there are only a few attacks that can really get positive feedback. If it continues like this, it will greatly affect the team's morale and tactical execution. I am very happy to see McNeill make changes. I believe that it is not easy to make such changes in the face of Wang, who is known for his paranoia. Because the whole world knows how much he loves to score goals... and now, McNeill's approach is equivalent to depriving him of the opportunity to score directly. But in fact, this is a good thing for Tyne."

I don't know if the TV broadcaster thought the same way, so when Wesley said this, the TV broadcast cut the close-up shot from Wang Lie's face and gave it to McNeill in front of the home team's coaching booth on the sidelines.

He was covering his mouth while talking to his assistant coach, Valo.

※※※

"Sam, you asked Wang to speak to the players on your behalf during the halftime break. It wasn't just a whim, but something you had in mind for a long time, right?"

While the game was just beginning and not yet very intense, Cesar Valo approached Sam McNeill and talked about some topics that were not so closely related to the game on the court.

"No, I really did it on the spur of the moment. You know, Cesar, I'm not good at giving those passionate speeches in public and inspiring people. But I knew Wang could do it, so I thought why not give it a try?" McNeill said.

"It really worked. Not only the players, but you as well, listened very attentively."

"Ha, I thought of the days when I worked with him at Sofia. That was his first season at Sofia, but he seemed to have played here for ten years. From the first day he came to the team, he was pointing fingers and expressing his opinions in the locker room..."

McNeill said.

"He has always been like this, so I say he is a natural leader. A leader doesn't need to be good at those trivial details, he just needs to be able to inspire people and encourage them."

Varro nodded in agreement. "That's right. I noticed that by the time he finished speaking, everyone in the locker room had already been willing to listen to his orders without realizing it. He just raised his hand and everyone fell silent. I also made a special observation and found that even Dean, the troublemaker, didn't come out to make his presence felt."

McNeill continued, covering his mouth, "In fact, I originally set the rule of having the captain give a speech before the game just to enhance the cohesion of this 'mercenary army', just like every time I let them draw lots to decide who will live in the same room with whom during an away game... But now it seems like I have prepared the stage for the king in advance, haha!"

At the end, he even laughed out loud.

Because this matter really looks like he planned it two months in advance, just to wait for Wang Lie...

In the future, some conspiracy theorists may think that when he first took over Tain, he had already planned to poach people from his former employer.

But McNeill doesn't care about these conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy theories are not the mainstream in the football world, victory is.

As long as he can win, who cares about those rumors?
It's just the barking of a dog.

※※※

After turning the ball around, the Scouse player confirmed that the Tyne players would not come up to press, so he passed the ball forward and pushed it upwards.

If Tyne wanted to play a defensive counterattack and the Scots wanted to press them, they would have to let the ball circulate in Tyne's half.

Push the attack forward, and if we lose the ball in Tyne's half, then counterattack on the spot!
The football was quickly passed to Chi Zhen's feet.

He dropped back from the front to receive the ball, with his back to the direction of attack and Sonny Dean behind him.

Chi Zhen immediately passed the ball to his midfield teammate Radu who was nearby.

Then he turned and ran forward again.

Sonny Dean's defense was a bit weak. Although he ran back, he was running slowly. It didn't look like he was trying to catch up with Chi Zhen. It looked more like he was just running back for the sake of running back...

He also did not go for Mihajta Radu who had the ball.

Radu calmly passed the ball to Chi Zhen without any interference.

The two of them fought against each other.

Chi Zhen used his starting speed to shake off Dean and dribbled the ball in front of him with the outside of his right foot.

At this time, he was facing Tyne midfielder Gianfranco Ramosa who was defending him sideways.

While Ramosa hadn't yet completely positioned himself, Chi Zhen suddenly pushed the ball forward!
accelerate!
When Ramosa stretched out his foot, the football had already been kicked away by Chi Zhen. He was afraid of being fouled, so he raised his hands and made an obvious move to retract his foot.

So Chi Zhen passed by him.

"Good shot! Nice breakthrough! Chi Zhen's starting speed has always been his advantage!"

Luo Jin cheered for Chinese player Chi Zhen.

Chi Zhen got rid of Ramosa and caught up with the ball. Tayne's right-back Barnabas was just in front of him, blocking his route to cut into the penalty area.

Chi Zhen did not consider going to the bottom to cross the ball, but took the initiative to press forward, forcing Barnabas to fight with him.

This is a very confident approach.

Because it was right at the edge of the restricted area, Barnabas couldn't keep retreating, otherwise he would let Chi Zhen into the restricted area...

So when Chi Zhen came forward, Barnabas had to take the initiative to do something.

He lowered his center of gravity and stared at Chi Zhen's feet.

I saw Chi Zhen's right foot pass over the football first.

Barnabas remained unmoved, knowing that this was 100% a fake.

But it’s hard to say what the next move will be…

Chi Zhen’s right foot was indeed a fake move, but his left foot was not!
He gently pushed the football diagonally forward with the outside of his left foot and accelerated to break through!
Barnabas rushed over quickly.

But halfway through the run, I realized that Chi Zhen hadn't caught up with me at all!
Chi Zhen’s previous sprint was just a feint. After his right foot stepped over the football, he stopped abruptly and turned around, then used the outside of his right foot to push the ball to the other side!
Then he rushed into the penalty area from the position where Barnabas had just been!
There was a deafening roar of boos and screams from the home Tyne fans.

The Scouse number seven scored a goal in the first half, which shows that he is in really good form.

They are now worried that Chi Zhen will score another goal and widen the score difference to two goals again, which will deal a heavy blow to the team's morale.

Fortunately, Tyne central defender Matej Katic rushed over in time and took advantage of the opportunity when Chi Zhen had just passed Barnabas and was unable to control the ball to steal the ball!
Seeing this, Chi Zhen tried desperately to kick the ball out.

The two men kicked each other in the penalty area.

Chi Zhen was defeated and fell to the ground after losing his balance, while the football was intercepted by Katic.

"Katic is worthy of being the world's No. 1 center back. He is very experienced! He seized the opportunity and made a successful steal!"

"Although the ball was intercepted, Chi Zhen's performance was brilliant! His strengths are his flexibility and quick start! Facing Tain's right back Barnabas, he still has a good chance!"

Chi Zhen, who had the ball intercepted, was very upset. He fell to the ground and punched the grass in the Tyne penalty area. After venting his emotions, he got up and returned to the game.

Although this attack did not result in a goal or an assist, his ability to dribble past two players made him confident in his next performance.

He firmly believes that as long as he keeps playing like this, he will score a goal sooner or later!

※※※

Although Chi Zhen did not help the Scouse team score a goal, now that the ball has been transferred, the Scouse team can also take advantage of the situation to launch their best pressing in the frontcourt.

Still able to create scoring opportunities.

Because that's how the Scots played in the final stages of the first half, Tyne knew how to respond.

Either make a long pass to Vitini and Dean, or to Wang Lie.

After the halftime break, when walking out of the locker room, in the player tunnel, Wang Lie told his teammates that if they faced this situation in the game, they should pass the ball to him more often. He did not explain why he asked everyone to do this, mainly because he could not tell everyone that he was one year younger than in the previous game...

But he didn't need to explain, because after his goal in the first half, almost everyone in the Tyne lineup was willing to believe in him unconditionally.

Actions speak louder than words, goals speak louder than words.

So when the Tyne players passed the ball back to goalkeeper Goetz in the face of the pressure from the Scots, Goetz thought of what Wang Lie said to them in the player tunnel:
"Give me the ball."

Goetz saw Wang Lie who had retreated to the midfield position.

He is looking at himself.

Those eyes seemed to say:

"Give me the ball."

So he passed the ball.

Just as Wang Lie caught the ball, Radu also rushed up and bumped into him hard.

Just like the time right after the kickoff in the first half.

At that time, Wang Lie was knocked back by him and could not stand in his position at all. In order not to lose the ball, he had to hook the ball under his feet and take two steps forward. Fortunately, he did not lose the ball, otherwise the goal in the first minute of the game might have been counted on Wang Lie.

This time, before Wang Lie received the ball, he had already caught a glimpse of Mihajta Radu's menacing figure out of the corner of his eye.

So while catching the ball, he leaned back with a very small amount of force!
Collided hard with Radu!
Radu felt as if he had hit a stone wall...

While Radu was still not reacting, Wang Lie used the outside of his right foot to push the football sideways, and at the same time he turned around and shook off Radu.

Radu rushed forward again, using his hands and feet to try to entangle Wang Lie.

As Wang Lie turned around, he observed the situation in front of him and passed the ball to the left with his right foot.

Vitini was there to support.

The pass slightly affected Wang Lie's speed, so he was caught up by Radu.

But just when Radu stretched out his hand and thought he could catch Wang Lie, the latter suddenly started moving on the spot!

Escaped from his hand.

And with just one acceleration, he got rid of him!
Radu was a little stunned, because he was not used to the explosive power Wang Lie showed just now... It was as if his usual rhythm was suddenly broken.

Wang Lie ignored Radu. While rushing forward, he turned his head to look at Vitini, closely watching his movements.

If he lost the ball, he would have to run back quickly...

This was a big problem for the 38-year-old man.

But for him who just celebrated his 36th birthday, it was not a big problem.

That’s right, his speed decline did not start when he was thirty-six. But no matter what, he must be a little faster at thirty-six years and four days than he was at thirty-seven years and four days…

Wang Lie's frantic run did not last long, not because he had no strength left, but because he found that Vitini was showing signs of leading the ball into a dead end.

At this time, he continued to rush forward, which made Vitini lose the angle for passing the ball.

It would be better to slow down and create a passing angle for Vitini, so that Vitini can pass the ball to him easily as long as he turns around and protects the ball.

The only problem was that when he slowed down, Radu caught up with him.

The hot air from his nostrils blew onto the back of Wang Lie's neck.

Wang Lie ignored him and turned his head left and right to observe the situation in front of him:

Vitini got the ball on the left and was almost surrounded by Scouse's right midfielder Simon Lofven and right back Patrick McGowan.

At the same time, because he was moving closer to Vitini, he attracted the Scouse midfielder Radu to the flank. The middle was now occupied by their attacking midfielder Ryan Boissier, who not only had to defend that area, but also had to defend the Tain attacking midfielder Van Ginkel who was advancing.

The Scouse's two central defenders, Joey Libert close to McGowan, are in the left rib position in front of the penalty area.

In the middle is their captain, Mason Harper.

Tyne's right winger Sonny Dean is moving from the wing to the center.

Scouse left-back Gabriel Atala follows him.

They were pressing in Tyne's half just now, but now most of the Scouse players have returned to their own half, and they returned very quickly.

Wang Lie moved closer to Vitini and shouted at him, "Give me the ball!"

Vitini heard the idol's voice, looked up and saw Wang Lie.

Seeing this, Luo Fen rushed forward to grab the ball!

Vitini deftly pushed the ball to the side, and Loven's attempt to steal the ball missed!
Vitini seemed to have escaped the one-on-two situation, but he still obediently passed the ball back to Wang Lie.

Wang Lie ran towards the football, and when he was about to catch the ball, he suddenly cut across, blocking Radu behind him, and then let the football roll past him before turning around and running back.

After catching up with the football, he pushed the ball to Van Ginkel who was cutting into the middle with the inside of his right foot, then stopped suddenly to let Radu who had rushed back pass, and quickly started forward!
Radu couldn't care less, and there was no way he could stop and chase Wang Lie. He could only point behind him and shout, "Watch out, Wang!"

Then he pounced on Van Ginkel.

In fact, Radu didn't need to remind them, both Libert and Harper noticed Wang Lie's forward run.

They also shifted their focus there at the same time.

Among them, Libert went straight forward to face Wang Lie.

Van Ginkel passed the ball before Radu, but he didn't pass it to Wang Lie, but to Sonny Dean on the right flank!
When everyone's attention was on Wang Lie, Dean, who was originally moving sideways to the middle, suddenly changed direction and cut into the penalty area from the blind spot behind Mason Harper!
It was at this time that Van Ginkel passed the ball over.

A lob pass went over Mason Harper's head and fell into the space behind him.

Atala was blocked behind Dean and didn't dare to make any moves easily because Dean entered the penalty area!
"Van Ginkel!"

"Dean!"

Sonny Dean licked the falling ball with his chest, and when the football landed and rolled forward, he swung his right leg and shot!

The ball hit the side net...

"Side net! Oops!"

"Tyne's attack this time was very threatening, but it was a pity that Dean's final shot was not up to standard!"

"He could actually pass the ball horizontally to the back post, because Wang is already there... As long as he can pass the ball over, Wang will have a great chance to score..."

When Van Ginkel passed the ball, Wang Lie suddenly accelerated again.

At this time, Libert and Harper's attention were all attracted by the football flying towards Dean.

No one noticed Dean until he shot.

He didn't stop and rushed straight to the back of the goal.

Just as the commentators said, as long as Dean passed the ball, Wang Lie would almost have a chance to shoot at an empty goal.

But Dean chose to take the shot himself.

In fact, it can't be considered a particularly bad choice. After all, as a striker, he was facing the goalkeeper directly, so the shot was understandable even if the angle was smaller.

As long as you can score a goal.

But Dean's shot hit the side net directly...

So he held his head with both hands and heard the roar from behind the goal:

"Dean!"

He turned his head and looked over with a guilty conscience.

Wang Lie put his arms together and pointed at his feet:

"Give me the ball!"

This time, Dean didn't fight back like he did in the past, nor did he show any impatience, nor did he pretend not to hear and turn around and run away.

He lowered his head.

※※※

PS, there will be two updates today!
(End of this chapter)