The cold rain slapped my body.
But it did not extinguish the fiercely beating hearts of Ling Feng and Leicester City players, as well as the surging passion of the fans!
After hugging his teammates one by one, Ling Feng gave Mahrez a big hug:
"Good news, Riad!"
"I thought you would hit the ball away. You know how often you hit the ball in the air during training."
Faced with the ridicule, Ling Feng just shrugged and said with a smile: "Brother, I feel good about my shooting today."
Originally, even if the weather was sunny and the ball was not slippery, his long-range shot accuracy rate from outside the penalty area was not high.
Long shots are very particular about power and angle, both are indispensable.
However, due to his lack of shooting power, in order to increase the speed of the ball, he could only try his best to shoot.
But this makes it very easy to hit the ball or miss it.
Therefore, he can only make his long-range shots reach a balance point through constant long-range shooting training, which has a certain ball speed and a tricky angle!
As for that beautiful strike just now, he admitted that he was gambling.
Fortunately, he was right!
Thanks to the heavy rain, the turf became slippery, which naturally increased the ball speed.
Otherwise, Foster might actually save the ball.
The start of this game did not go as the outside world speculated.
Not only this downpour, but also this wonderful long shot!
"This is Ling Feng's sixth goal in the league this season. It is worth mentioning that among these six goals, five of them were scored by him outside the penalty area!"
"This number is the highest among all Premier League players!"
After taking the lead at St. Mary's Stadium, Leicester City attacked even more fiercely in the away game.
This is the main tone of Leicester City's tactics this season - attack until death!
Either the opponent will be killed, or you will be killed by the opponent's counterattack!
After the goal, the morale-boosted Leicester City continued to launch waves of attacks on the Saints' defense.
Ling Feng, who felt good about shooting today, became the most active one on the field.
After additional training, his [Shooting Power] attribute has been improved to 65.
When fired at full speed, the ball speed can reach 90 kilometers per hour.
Long shots outside the penalty area are still quite threatening.
Once he gets the ball outside the penalty area, he will try to take a powerful long shot!
In just ten minutes, he added three more shots for himself and the team!
However, the three shots were either too far away and the ball was not fast enough, and Foster easily picked it off;
Either the central defender or the defensive midfielder flew to block the ball and deflect it.
However, the accuracy of the three shots was not very outrageous, and they basically went towards the goal range.
As for Ling Feng's "shooting" on the court, Leicester City coach Pearson on the sidelines had only one reaction:
That’s applause!
"Well done!"
"What a shot!"
"Keep up the good work!"
In his opinion, this league game is irrelevant.
Regardless of winning or losing, it will not affect the team's goal of relegation, nor will it have any impact on the team's morale or atmosphere.
Instead, this was the first game in which he gave Ling Feng unlimited firing rights!
If this game can further stimulate Ling Feng's desire to shoot and allow him to evolve into a frontcourt free man who can pass and shoot, then the team's offense will definitely reach a higher level!
For other Blue Fox players, whether it is the head coach's tactical orders or their trust in Ling Feng, they are willing to run and press in the frontcourt to pull the Saints' defense and create opportunities for Ling Feng. More shooting space.
They know very well that Ling Feng's performance determines the team's lower limit and upper limit!
With Ling Feng on the court, and without Ling Feng on the court, Leicester City can be said to be two completely different teams.
So, surround yourself with him, play your best, and the wins will come!
. . .
"Ling Feng Ling Feng Ling~~~Feng!"
"He's from Leicester and he's our hero!"
"His passing is mesmerizing."
"Ling Feng Ling Feng Ling~~~Feng!"
"He is from Leicester and we are proud of him!"
Seeing Ling Feng so active, thousands of visiting team fans who accompanied the team also began to sing "Ling Feng's Song" loudly.
When Ling Feng heard the singing, he felt as if he was on fire, and his figure ran even harder, almost everywhere.
However, the Saints' defense is better able to withstand pressure than most teams in the league.
Although the scene looked relatively passive, the fans were also frightened, wondering why Leicester City had scored another goal.
However, both the Saints players on the field and Koeman, who had been standing on the sidelines and let the heavy rain get him wet, were very confident in themselves.
During the training and tactical meetings before the game, they knew that Leicester City was a "crazy" team that promoted offensive football.
The reason why other Premier League teams think Leicester City are crazy is also very simple.
Leicester City's style of play is to attack the opponent from the first second until the last second.
Even when facing the wealthy teams Chelsea and Arsenal, they always choose to take the initiative and fight against each other.
In their impression, don't the newly promoted teams play five defenders or defend on counterattack, let other teams bombard them, try to steal one, and then survive in the cracks of this league? !
How have they ever seen a newly promoted horse that is so arrogant, so crazy, and has such good results!
However, this newly promoted team, which has rushed to the top of the league standings like crazy, is not without its weaknesses.
After ten league games, Leicester City has conceded more than one goal per game.
It's not impossible to concede two or three goals in a single game.
It can be seen that although Leicester City has a sharp offense, its defense is not good.
Moreover, the defender's lack of mobility and slow turn and pursuit are a very obvious shortcoming.
As long as they resist the attack, seize the opportunity to switch between offense and defense, and launch a quick counterattack, they can kill with one blow!
This is also the tactic adopted by Southampton in this game - defensive counterattack!
They are not superstitious about ball possession, but care more about the speed of offensive advancement.
As long as they push forward quickly and effectively, they can form a fast and slow advantage in the frontcourt, allowing Mane, who has super explosive ability, to single out Leicester City's two slow central defenders.
And in this way, the chance of scoring will only be greatly improved!
However, the only thing that surprised them was Ling Feng's desire to shoot in this game.
Although I guessed that the opponent might take advantage of the heavy rain to increase long-range shots.
However, they never expected that the increased number of long-range shots would be completed by Ling Feng.
You know, Lingfeng, as the league leader in assists, only averages 1.3 shots per game.
As a midfielder who mainly organizes assists, it is not unusual to average such a number of shots per game.
However, his shot conversion rate ranks among the top five in the league!
Fourteen shots resulted in six goals, with a conversion rate as high as 0.42!
Such a conversion rate is even comparable to that of many first-class forwards.
The most puzzling thing is why a midfielder who doesn't really "like" shooting suddenly becomes so keen on long-range shots?
In less than forty minutes, he contributed five shots alone.
Moreover, the shooting positions are all outside the penalty area.
What is the reason for such a huge change? !
This is what Southampton coach Koeman, standing on the sidelines, is thinking at this moment.
However, when he saw Pearson cheering Ling Feng on the sidelines, he immediately understood.
"It must be the arrangement of the head coach!"
Could it be that this game was a stage specially arranged by Pearson to train Ling Feng's long-range shooting ability? !
Thinking of this, Koeman couldn't help but frown, and became even more sure that he was right.
Because, this is completely possible!
Ling Feng's amazing talent and offensive talent can be seen even by a blind man.
In terms of passing, he is already comparable to many top midfielders.
If he can develop another long-range shot, Ling Feng's threat on the court will definitely become even greater!
Perhaps it will become a passing version of Gerrard or Lampard? !
Of course, football is a game of offense and defense, and the emphasis is on both offense and defense. It cannot be just about strong offense or strong defense.
The more the formation presses the attack, the emptier the defensive space becomes and the more opportunities there are to take advantage of.
Moreover, despite the fact that Leicester City almost suppressed Southampton in the half, there were very few who truly threatened the goal.
It was not until the 43rd minute of the game that Southampton, who was beaten by Leicester City, finally seized a precious opportunity to switch offense and defense and launched a beautiful quick counterattack:
With a "bang" sound, Ling Feng's long-range shot was blocked again by Fonte stretching his leg.
The rebounded ball came to the feet of Saints midfielder Snedlin.
Snedlin pulled the ball and turned around, looked up and forward, and made a long pass to Pellet in the frontcourt.
The latter first resisted Morgan who was pulling him with his back, and then stopped with his chest to meet the ball. Then, with a half-turn, he passed the ball to Tadic who was connecting on the right.
At this moment, Leicester City's backcourt is empty, with only two central defenders left behind!
After the Serbian magician took the ball, he glanced back at Schlupp who was chasing after him frantically, but did not advance with the ball.
He knew very well that his dribbling speed was not fast enough. Even if he dribbled the ball forward, it would not be faster than Schlupp's pursuit speed.
Once Schlupp caught up with him for a foul or interference, this rare counterattack was basically ended.
Ever since, he subconsciously raised his head and looked at the far end of the other side of the court.
Seeing that Mane had started to move forward at a high speed, he moved the instep of his left foot and directly sent a precise long pass at a 45-degree angle!
The ball was like a precision-guided missile, crossing the entire Leicester City defense line and flying straight into the no-man's land on the left side of the front court.
"Nice long pass!"
"There is a huge gap in Leicester City's defense!"
Manai, who jumped in at high speed, got stuck before Simpson, who was chasing after him!
I saw the Southampton No. 10 stopping the ball with his chest in the penalty area, and then without waiting for the ball to hit the ground, he jumped in front of the attacking Schmeichel and shot without thinking!
The whole action is very coherent.
The flying ball hit Schmeichel's open left hand and broke.
But he still got into the empty door behind him!
"Wow!"
"Beautiful shot! Southampton equalized the score in the first half!"
"The scorer was No. 10, Sadio~~~"
With the DJ at the stadium setting the scene, all the fans of the home team uniformly shouted out the hero of the goal:
"Mane!!!"
Mane, who scored the goal, rushed all the way to the corner flag area and made a handsome kneeling move!
"These two teams are both teams with very strong offensive firepower in the league. The two goals in the first half were very exciting."
"Could it be said that in this game, we will witness a classic goal battle again?!"
And this goal fully demonstrated Mane's strong physical fitness and flexibility.
The physical fitness of African brothers is really unexplainable
Seeing that his tactics were working, Koeman on the sidelines also excitedly pumped his fist in celebration.
Then he looked at Pearson not far away.
Let your formation be so high!
Looking at the Saints players celebrating wildly in the corner flag area, the Leicester City generals also realized that the opponent in front of them was not a mid-to-lower team like Burnley or West Brom who had no power to fight back.
And victory is not as easy as a dandelion on a hillside.
But they need to go all out!
As the Saints tied the score, the two sides returned to the same starting line again.
Going into the halftime break with a 1-0 lead is completely different from going into the halftime break with a 1-1 lead.
The former will make them play more calmly in the second half, while the latter will make the second half more anxious.
Due to the heavy rain and the loss of body heat, the physical fitness of the players on both sides seemed to have reached a critical point.
As a result, in the remaining minutes of the first half, the Blue Fox and the Saints seemed to have agreed not to attack.
With the referee's whistle, the first half came to an end.
After a short intermission, the game changed sides again in the second half.
Fifteen minutes did not make the rain lessen.
Moreover, the drainage system of St. Mary's Stadium is pretty good, and the water accumulation on the stadium is not serious.
Even so, both sides greatly reduced the ground passing in the second half and turned to long passes.
For a moment, the ball kept flying around in the air!
The turf was slippery, and after slipping and falling several times, players on both sides did not dare to rush too hard to avoid straining or spraining their knees.
In this special game environment, Southampton, with its big center as the fulcrum of the frontcourt, slowly took the initiative on the court and gradually gained some offensive power.
In the 63rd minute of the game, Tadic took the ball on the right and wanted to pass directly to Pellet in the center, but Schlupp stretched his leg to block it and blocked the ball out of the baseline.
After getting a corner kick opportunity in the frontcourt, Saints coach Koeman immediately realized that this was an excellent opportunity and quickly waved:
"Get up!"
"Everyone go up and fight for the top!"
With Snedlin, Alderweireld, Font and other high-profile players coming up from the backcourt, the entire Leicester City penalty area was suddenly filled with people.
Following the referee's whistle, Tadic took a corner kick. The ball drew a strange arc in the air and flew over the crowd in the penalty area.
And at this moment, Pellet, who got rid of the defender with the help of his teammates' pick-and-roll, leaped high and headed towards the ball!
The next second, the ball turned into a black shadow, flew past Schmeichel's hand, and smashed into the white net behind him!
(End of chapter)
