"After making his first-team debut a few days ago, Leicester City's 18-year-old Ling Feng made his debut in the English Championship..."
"Also appearing with him is Algerian star Riyad Mahrez..."
Ling Feng came on and replaced veteran left midfielder Lloyd Dale.
Mahrez was opposite Anthony Konokat, who replaced the right midfielder.
With the appearance of two substitutes, the formation on the field also changed from 442 to 4231.
Forward Vardy was moved to the left and temporarily served as left midfielder.
Ling Feng, on the other hand, stood behind striker Nugent and served as the attacking midfielder.
After Ling Feng came on as a substitute, Leicester City coach Pearson, who was standing on the sidelines, did not forget to shout to the players on the field:
"Give Ling more passes!"
In fact, Ling Feng's performance in training has earned Ling Feng the trust of his teammates.
Even without the need for instructions from the head coach, other Leicester City players are very willing to give him the ball to organize the offense.
The Leicester City players had no reaction to this call, but it attracted the attention of the Derby County players.
The Derby County players seemed to have discovered something, and they all looked at Ling Feng.
Before the game, they knew Ling Feng's name and deeds from various channels.
He came on as a substitute and provided two assists to help the team reverse the Premier League team Stoke City.
Before the game, the head coach emphasized Ling Feng's passing threat to them, claiming that once the opponent comes on the bench, they must press hard and not let him pass the ball easily.
Even so, most of Derby County's players disagree:
How powerful can an eighteen-year-old rookie be?
Perhaps, this black-haired boy can be their breakthrough to reverse the situation!
Feeling the glances from the Derby County players, Ling Feng's expression remained unchanged, but he cursed in his heart:
Holy shit!
Next time you plan your tactics, can you please stop yelling in front of your opponents?
Although he complained like this in his heart, Ling Feng was mentally prepared.
Since the emergence of the FA Cup and the excessive praise from the media, he has expected that he will definitely encounter "key attention" from the opposing players when he is on the court.
No, as soon as "Water Drinking Brother" Drinkwater passed the ball to Ling Feng's feet, the Derby County midfielder who was ambushing behind him immediately rushed over with an extremely ferocious momentum.
Obviously, he planned to give this black-haired boy a showdown!
However, before he could get closer, Ling Feng seemed to have eyes behind him. Without any hesitation, he knocked the ball back to the feet of "water drinker" Drinkwater.
Seeing Ling Feng passing the ball back, Derby County's midfielder thought Ling Feng was afraid of him pressing him. He was so proud that he couldn't help but slow down his pace.
Ling Feng didn't care at all whether there was anyone behind him. He just accelerated his feet slightly and ran to the empty space to respond.
Soon, everyone in the King Power Stadium, including the audience, commentators, and Derby County players on the court, discovered something strange:
Does football burn your feet?
Why does this black-haired kid want to pass the ball out as soon as he gets the ball?
Slowly, people who know football began to see some clues.
Leicester City's No. 23, through continuous short passes and open runs in the midfield, single-handedly formed a moving triangle group with his two midfield teammates, firmly controlling the ball!
Faced with the pressing and attacking of Derby County players, Ling Feng was always able to pass the ball out immediately without giving the opponent a chance to foul or engage in confrontation.
Derby County's players could not touch the ball at all and could only shrink their defense and watch helplessly as Leicester City controlled the ball.
Within five minutes after Ling Feng came on the field, Leicester City's ball possession rate reached a terrifying 100%!
And such a scene made the commentator in the commentary box very surprised:
"Wow!"
"What did I see?!"
“Is this Spanish tiki-taka?!”
"With his flexible movement and very mature way of handling the ball, you can't tell he is only 18 years old!"
"Haha, if it weren't for the blue jersey he was wearing, I would have thought he was a product of La Masia's youth training..."
Hearing this, Leicester City coach Pearson, who was sitting firmly on the home team's coaching bench with his legs crossed, couldn't help but show a proud look.
He immediately smiled and said to assistant coach Walsh next to him:
"It seems our decision was right..."
Except for the coaching staff and Ling Feng himself, no one will know that this is a way of playing football tailor-made for him after the coaching staff comprehensively considered Ling Feng's personal strengths and weaknesses!
The game videos that Ling Feng watched the most in the video room were the Barcelona game videos from the "Dream III" period, as well as the personal game highlights of Xavi, the brain of Barcelona.
In the eyes of Pearson and Walsh, Ling Feng is their Xavi of Leicester City!
. . .
Use safe short passes in the midfield to connect in order to paralyze the opponent.
Then when the opponent's players thought they could only pass the ball safely and their defensive attention began to relax, another fatal blow!
With constant short passes, Ling Feng finally caught the gap in Derby County's formation.
When Brother Drinking Water passed the ball to Ling Feng's feet for the twenty-sixth time, he paused.
Seeing that Ling Feng did not pass the ball out immediately, Derby County's midfielder thought that he was about to turn around, so he did not dare to neglect at all and rushed over immediately.
"It's now!"
Just as the defensive midfielder rushed behind him aggressively, Ling Feng had a solemn expression and knocked the ball back to follow the other midfielder, Marty James.
The moment he passed the ball, he immediately turned around and ran forward, just passing by the Derby County midfielder.
Ling Feng could even see the look of astonishment written on the other person's face.
But he showed a slightly sarcastic smile.
Sample, are you confused?
"Nice turn!"
Seeing Ling Feng running forward into the open space, James passed the ball back again.
With just a simple one-two, Ling Feng avoided the defensive midfielder's rush and gained space to pass the ball.
Seeing this, Derby County's central defender's eyes widened, and he subconsciously opened his mouth and shouted:
"Force me!"
Derby County head coach and former England head coach Steve McLaren also shouted to his disciples on the sidelines:
"Don't let him pass the ball!"
However, it's too late!
Without any hesitation or raising his head to observe, Ling Feng swung his right leg vigorously and sent out a through ball!
The fast-rolling ball passed between the center back and left back and reached the right edge of Derby County's penalty area.
This pass also attracted praise from the commentator:
"An imaginative through ball! The ball passed through the ribs of Derby County's defense and came outside the penalty area..."
"Oh, Mahrez No. 26!"
With the commentator's sudden exclamation, Mahrez, wearing the No. 26 jersey, entered the penalty area like the wind!
This is the tacit understanding he and Ling Feng accumulated during training and group competition.
Whenever Ling Feng faces the goal and is about to pass the ball, he will run into the space behind the full-back without hesitation.
Because he knows very well that as long as he runs, Ling Feng will pass the ball comfortably!
If you want to say who has the best first-touch skills among the Leicester City first-team players, then Mahrez, who has just transferred to join, is the well-deserved number one.
Facing the high-speed rolling football and the goalkeeper abandoning the goal directly in front of him, Mahrez looked calm, like an emotionless killer.
Under the breathless gaze of tens of thousands of fans at the King Power Stadium, he just flicked the bottom of the ball with his left foot very lightly.
The next second, the ball flew over the head of the Derby County goalkeeper and jumped into the empty goal!
"Mahrez, face the goalkeeper..."
"Shoot!"
"The ball went in!!!"
"gooooooaaaal!"
With this light shot, Mahrez scored his first goal in the British Championship.
Ling Feng also got his first assist in the British Championship.
And only ten minutes had passed since he came on as a substitute...
