The next day.
Belvoir Base, in the coach's office.
Holding the freshly released "Guardian", Pearson could only see the bold headlines on the cover of the newspaper:
"The curse is working!"
He just won the Coach of the Month award a few days ago, and in the next round of the league, he was tied with Newcastle in an away game.
This makes people have to be in awe of the so-called "Coach of the Month Curse".
This game, for Leicester City, can be said to be a loss of both women and soldiers.
Not only was a four-game winning streak in the Premier League ended, the high morale was hit, but a midfielder was also lost!
After the game, the team doctor diagnosed Drinkwater with an ankle sprain. It is conservatively estimated that it will take three to five weeks to recover.
Thinking of this, Pearson, who was sitting in the office chair, threw the newspaper in his hand on the table:
"Damn magpie!"
You know, Brother Drinking Water is Leicester City's unshakable main force in the midfield.
The English midfielder is both offensive and defensive, has excellent physical fitness, and has the ability to pass long balls from time to time.
Although most of the energy this season has been spent on defense, leaving the job of playing the ball in the backcourt to the more experienced Cambiaso.
However, it was the barrier he built in front of the defense that prevented the team's two slower center backs from being easily broken through by the Premier League's giants.
Now that Brother Drinkwater is injured, someone needs to start in his place.
Fortunately, the team's midfield depth is pretty good.
Andy King, Matty James, and Nick Powell, who is on loan from Manchester United, can all step up temporarily to partner Cambiaso in the midfield.
Although the strength of the three is slightly worse than Drinkwater, the defense is not strong enough.
However, it runs actively and covers a good area. It is more than enough for a month.
No matter what happens, it's not impossible to drag Lingard, who is full of energy, into the midfield.
In addition to Brother Drinking, who was directly injured, the core players of the team, Ling Feng and Mahrez, were violated many times in this hand-to-hand battle with the Magpies.
There is no way, the former is the initiator of the team's offense, and the latter is the hot spot on the wing that holds the most ball in the frontcourt, and they must both be the focus of the opponent's attention.
After examination by the team doctor, both of them had some muscle and soft tissue contusions and muscle fatigue.
It's not serious. As long as he recovers for a few days, he will basically be able to play in the upcoming third round of the Europa League.
Thinking of this, Pearson looked at assistant coach Walsh sitting on the sofa and asked:
"Steve, who do you think can take over from Danny (Drinkwater)?"
"I think Andy is in good form recently and he can definitely provide us with enough energy in the midfield."
Hearing this, Pearson did not hesitate and nodded immediately:
"Okay! Let Andy replace Danny and see the effect!"
Compared with Matty James, another rotating midfielder who came from Manchester United's youth training, Andy King, who has been with the team for ten years, is truly one of his own.
Soon, Ling Feng and others discovered that Andy Jin put on the orange vest of the main team during the team's training match and formed a new midfield partner with Cambiaso.
Andy Metal is a versatile midfielder.
His basic skills are good, and his abilities in all aspects are on average, but he doesn't have any outstanding features.
However, this type of player is the panacea that every team needs!
. . .
A week later, Leicester City traveled to Turkey to challenge Turkish Super League powerhouse Trabzonspor away.
Türkiye's away games are never easy to play.
The Turkish Telekom Stadium, the home ground of Galatasaray, is called "hell"
The heated fan atmosphere often frightens visiting team players and fans.
Continental giants such as Barcelona, AC Milan and Real Madrid have also failed here.
There is good news and bad news for the Leicester City generals who came to Turkey.
The good news is that their opponent is not Galatasaray, but Trabzonspor.
The bad news is, they play as rough as Newcastle!
Except for Bosingwa, there are no famous stars in the Trabzonspor team.
However, in order to defend the home honor, both the fans in the stands sang loudly and the home team players on the field also worked very hard.
Their playing style, like other Turkish teams, is full of aggression!
In the 30th minute of the first half, amid the boos from the home team fans, the Blue Fox finally played a beautiful combination on the right!
After hitting a wall with Ling Feng and passing the full-back, Mahrez, who dribbled the ball to the baseline, passed a low cross to help Vardy grab the point and score.
After the score fell behind, Trabzonspor's players played more fiercely, and all kinds of fouls came directly.
Especially Ling Feng, who was knocked to the ground many times.
The painful lesson against Newcastle in the last round was still vivid in his mind, and Pearson watched in pain from the sidelines.
In the 60th minute of the second half of the game, Pearson was afraid that Ling Feng and other core players would be injured, so he quickly replaced all the "Three Musketeers of the Blue Fox"!
After the three men came off the field, Leicester City's offense suddenly became disorganized, and they had to retreat to half court and launch a defensive counterattack.
Trabzonspor, which has the home field advantage, is becoming more and more arrogant.
In the remaining thirty minutes, Leicester City was almost stopped at half-time by Trabzonspor and was frantically besieged.
Until the final stage of the game, the Turks used a pass and cut to penetrate Schmeichel's goal, thus equalizing the score!
And the final score was fixed at one to one.
Although he didn't score three points as he wished.
However, taking one point away from home is an acceptable result when no players are injured.
After returning to England, the team announced a day off so that the players could go home and take a rest.
And the next morning.
Ling Feng, who was enjoying a sumptuous breakfast, suddenly received a call from Mendes:
"Ling, congratulations, you are on the shortlist for the Golden Boy Award!"
"Um?"
It turns out that not long ago, Italy's "Torino Sport" announced the list of forty candidates for the 2014 European Golden Boy Award!
The European Golden Boy Award is an award founded by the newspaper in 2003.
This award is voted on by important European media to select the best young player of the year. It is also considered to be the "rite of passage" for young rookies.
The selection targets must be young players under the age of 21 who are playing for European clubs.
"Torino Sport" will send out ballots to more than 30 European sports media every year. Each ballot can be awarded a maximum score of 10 points. In the end, "Torino Sport" is responsible for tallying the scores and awarding the awards.
It can be said that the European Golden Boy Award is definitely the most prestigious young player selection award in European football.
The elected ones represent the future of football!
Previous Golden Boy winners have a very high success rate.
Many have become famous and left their own footprints in football, such as superstars such as Rooney, Messi, Cesc Fabregas, and Aguero;
And some, after experiencing a brief period of glory, quickly fell away.
Such as Anderson, Pato, Balotelli.
The last European Golden Boy was the talented midfielder Paul Pogba from Serie A giant Juventus.
Pogba, who came from Manchester United's youth training, has become a key training target of the "Old Lady" since his free transfer from Manchester United to Juventus in 2012.
Under the guidance of Pirlo, Marchisio and others, he grew rapidly and became the main midfielder as Juventus won three consecutive Serie A championships.
Pogba, who is only 21 years old, can be regarded as one of the best midfielders in world football!
In the eyes of many people, Pogba has a bright future and can definitely become a superstar.
However, no one would have thought that he would embark on a road of no return with his hair style.
When Ling Feng saw the list of candidates for the Golden Boy Award in the newspaper, his eyes lit up, and he suddenly regained the feeling he had when he was playing Football Manager and looking at the list of little monsters.
Because he knows almost all the names on the candidate list!
Berardi, Januzaj, Kovacic, Deulofeu, Zouma, Laporte, Marquinhos, Koeman, Stones
And now, there is one more me on the list!
Suddenly, Ling Feng realized that he had unknowingly become a super star capable of competing for the Golden Boy Award!
However, his selection is completely deserved.
After the announcement of the shortlist, media from various countries have made predictions about who will win this year's European Golden Boy Award.
Most media believe that the winner of this year's European Golden Boy Award is destined to be born among England's twin stars.
That is Liverpool Sterling, the second-ranked candidate, and Leicester City's Ling Feng, the first-ranked candidate!
At only 19 years old, Sterling's performance in 2014 was absolutely shocking.
In the Premier League, he contributed nine goals and five assists;
Formed the feared "3S" combination with Sturridge and Suarez, helping Liverpool win the Premier League runner-up;
In the World Cup in Brazil, he followed the Three Lions all the way to the quarterfinals, speeding along the wing many times and tearing open the opponent's defense!
If nothing else, Sterling would have won this year's European Golden Boy Award with a superior performance.
It's a pity that he met the unexpected Ling Feng!
Ling Feng, who only made his debut for Leicester City's first team in January, has been phenomenal in the past ten months!
As the core of the team, he helped Leicester City win a record-breaking double of the English Championship and FA Cup, and historically entered the European stage after many years.
The season statistics include 20 goals and 30 assists, breaking the league and FA Cup assist records, and winning the double championship award;
In the World Cup, he helped the Three Lions reach the quarterfinals and was successfully elected as the World Cup's Best Newcomer;
After being promoted to the Premier League with the team, he led the Blue Foxes to the top four in the standings as a super dark horse without any adaptation period;
He also became the first player in the five major leagues to reach double figures in assists, ranking first in the league's assist list!
Many media exclaimed that they have never seen a young player rise so quickly!
From making his debut in the English Championship, to leading the team to win the Double, to making his debut for the national team and competing in the World Cup, and finally helping the newly promoted team rank in the top four in the league and top the league assist list.
What some professional players couldn't do in their entire careers, Ling Feng did it in less than a year!
With his charming appearance, outstanding football skills, and the unrelenting praise from the British media, Ling Feng's fame spread almost throughout England and even Europe!
According to the on-field performance in various competitions, Ling Feng is obviously one step ahead!
This is why the public and the media regard him as a golden boy!
In addition to the good news that Ling Feng was selected as a candidate for the Golden Boy Award, Mendes also brought him a piece of news:
BBC Sports plans to invite him to do an exclusive interview with Beckham!
According to the producers of BBC Sports, the meeting between the real Beckham and the new Beckham will definitely be interesting!
Ling Feng readily agreed to this invitation!
So, later that day, Ling Feng changed into casual clothes and came to a studio in London.
Just as he was shaking hands with the on-site staff, a familiar figure suddenly appeared in front of him.
It’s none other than the handsome Beckham!
"Hey, Beckham!"
"Hey, Ling!"
The two smiled and hugged.
And this scene was also faithfully recorded by the camera.
"when did you come?"
“Arrived yesterday”
After a few words of greeting, the two sat on a sofa and started an exclusive interview facing the camera.
"Ling, you have said many times on social media and in public that David is your football idol. Now, how does it feel to be interviewed together with your idol?"
Hearing this, Ling Feng first smiled slightly, then spread his hands and said seriously:
"Although it's a bit regretful not to be able to play together on the court. But, I feel like I'm dreaming!"
What Ling Feng said was 100% truthful.
Before traveling through time, he never thought that one day he would be able to sit down with Xiao Bei and talk and laugh!
Hearing this answer, Xiaobei on the side also smiled, and couldn't help but murmur in his heart:
This guy is so generous!
If you didn't know what Ling Feng was like, you would have thought that Ling Feng was deliberately trying to flatter him.
"David, this outstanding young man beside you has been selected as a candidate for the Golden Boy Award. As a senior, what chance do you think he has of winning the Golden Boy Award?"
Faced with this question, Beckham answered almost without thinking:
"I personally feel that he has to win the Golden Boy Award!"
As soon as these words came out, not only the reporter but also Ling Feng could not help but be stunned.
Then, Beckham smiled slightly and began to explain:
"This year he showed us his amazing talent and talent. I watched every England game in Brazil."
"I was thinking at the time, this kid is so good. Look at those passes, it's incredible."
"Of course, if he had been wearing Manchester United's No. 7, I might have been happier."
Hearing this, the reporter seemed to have caught something, his eyes lit up, and he immediately asked;
"Do you think Ling Feng can become Manchester United's No. 7?"
"Why not? I don't mean to offend Leicester City, I just think every team would like to have a talent like Ling."
"To tell you the truth, when I called the boss before, I already recommended Ling to him."
Hearing that Beckham suddenly broke such explosive news, not only the interviewer, but also Ling Feng on the side couldn't help but feel ripples in his heart!
Who else can Beckham be called "boss" besides Sir Alex Ferguson, who has been in charge of the Red Devils and Manchester United for more than 20 years? !
Beckham actually recommended me to Ferguson? !
(End of chapter)
