On March 20, Kevin Keegan, who had not seen Wang Xiaodong for five days, led a team without a main midfielder to face the owner Sheffield United at Port Bramall Stadium.
Sheffield United is currently ranked second in the English Championship and can advance directly if nothing else happens.
Looking at Sheffield United's remaining league opponents, Southampton is already considered strong.
For this reason, 32,000 tickets were sold out, and the stands were filled with fans who came to watch the game.
Keegan held his waist and stood on the edge of the court, watching the players compete on the court.
Southampton without Wang Xiaodong is like missing a key part, just like his waist.
A person has a smart brain, nimble hands, and strong legs, but without a healthy "waist" to connect them together, no matter how many advantages they have, they are nothing more than a piece of loose sand.
That's how Southampton is now.
Bell and Dyer are still flying in the frontcourt, and Lallana can also stabilize the backcourt.
But without Wang Xiaodong, Southampton played in a mess.
Lallana used all his strength to make a save, but his body was so poor compared to Wang Xiaodong's that sometimes he couldn't see each other with just his consciousness.
Bell and Dyer also rushed like headless chickens during the counterattack.
The accuracy of teammates' long passes was very poor, and most of them were clearance balls, causing the two wingers to make unnecessary sprints on the wing. Even if he caught the ball, there was no suitable teammate to come forward to respond. In the end, Bell had no choice but to hit the ball into the penalty area.
The scene of the game did not make the fans sleepy, but Southampton's poor "offensive performance" made all the Saints who came with the team sweat.
If the team continues to play like this, can it really make the top six?
So far, Southampton is ranked eighth in the British Championship and has two opponents to kill before qualifying for the play-offs.
Therefore, even if it is an away game against Sheffield United, the team will try its best to win.
Bell played very irritably.
Not only because of the helplessness of the situation, nor because of the rumors in the outside media, but because of self-blame for one's own strength.
He and Wang Xiaodong are as close as brothers, so when some fans said that he relied on Wang Xiaodong to achieve his current status, he just smiled and nodded without making any objectionable response.
But even though he admits that he was brought up by Wang Xiaodong, it doesn't mean that he doesn't want to be a player in his own right.
Since joining the first team, Bell has been on a united front with Wang Xiaodong.
Even though he was sent off with a red card, Bell had no complaints.
This is not only a kind of trust in brothers, but also a kind of responsibility!
When you are not here, I will carry the banner!
But today's match situation and his own performance made Bell extremely disappointed with himself.
If this continues, Southampton's defense will have to be broken before they score a goal.
Let alone 3 points then, not even 1 point will be taken away.
How will I explain to Wang Xiaodong after he returns from suspension?
As a forward, he has been unable to cause panic and threats to the opponent's penalty area. This is his most helpless part.
And the helpless method of venting also turned into reckless shooting again and again.
"Hey, Bell, what are you doing? The ball is still so far away from the goal. How can you take off?"
"Bell, can't you be more steady? In three seconds, oh no, two seconds, your teammates will come to pick you up. Can't you wait a little longer?"
"Hey, Bale, don't always shoot with your left foot, the angle is too small!"
"Bell, do you think you are Dong? Such a weak shot cannot pose a threat at all!"
At the end of the first half, neither side changed the score.
But Sheffield United played very easily, and the players were full of confidence in the second half.
Southampton was a lot more irritable. Without Wang Xiaodong to "coordinate" in the midfield, many players even forgot how to play football.
"Oh, it would be great if winter were here!" Someone sighed, which immediately resonated with the team members.
"Shh, keep your voice down, don't let the coach hear you."
"If he hears you mention Dong in this way, he might get furious later!"
Thinking of Keegan's irritability these days, the players remained silent, each and every one of them silent.
Keegan, who was walking behind the players, naturally heard clearly what the players said, and he just sighed lightly. Wang Xiaodong still underestimated the importance of this Southampton team.
Is this good or bad?
Keegan was no longer in the mood to think about this.
How to play with the remaining 45 minutes is the immediate priority.
Sure enough, at the beginning of the second half, Southampton gave their opponents a "big gift".
Carres' direct shot from the right side of the penalty area hit Powell's calf. The ball immediately changed direction and flew into the goal from the opposite direction of Nimi's save.
Falling behind by one goal makes life even more difficult for the Saints.
The anxious fans in the stands made a lot of noise. Some of them urged the offensive players to attack hard, and some urged the defensive players to defend with all their strength.
In short, these fans who know a little about football are "advising" the players in their own way, but they don't know that this kind of chaotic scene will disrupt the players' mood.
Gradually, the players became distracted by the quarrels of the fans, and the noise in the visiting team's stands became a highlight in the stadium.
Taking advantage of a dead ball opportunity, the camera screen switched to the fans' stands.
The home team's cameraman must have thought so. After winning, he wanted to let his family see the funny side of the away team's fans.
The camera passed by and just captured a fat old black man.
This old black man was wearing a Southampton jersey, but because his body was too bloated, he didn't stand up and yell like other people.
There was a whole bowl of popcorn on his belly, and his hands were twisting the cap of the Feizhai Happy Water bottle.
I don't know whether it was because the bottle cap was too tight, or because it had been bumped before. The moment the bottle cap leaked, the carbon dioxide and carbonic acid that had been waiting for a long time spurted out from all directions, poisoning the surrounding fans.
Upon seeing this, the other fans hurriedly moved aside, especially when they saw a fat old black guy, a look of disgust suddenly appeared on the faces of these white guys.
The couple behind Lao Hei were even worse. The man pulled his girlfriend to stand up and cursed at Lao Hei.
His girlfriend also felt sorry for her little foreign flower skirt. She angrily grabbed the popcorn bucket on Lao Hei's belly and knocked it upside down on his head.
A simple little thing clearly demonstrates the racism of white people.
At this moment, as the camera zoomed in, many people, along with the cameraman, recognized the young man on Lao Hei's right who was wearing a red baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses.
Except for being startled by the coke at first, he didn't show the avoidance expression of other white fans.
On the contrary, he, who had suffered the most, took out the toilet paper in his pocket and helped wipe the seat back.
"Is it winter?"
"Yes, it's him!"
"He came to the scene too!"
When the commentator read the word "DONG", Keegan on the sidelines couldn't help but raise his head and look at the screen.
"I didn't expect that Dong would buy tickets at his own expense to cheer for his team in this way."
"It can be seen that Dong still loves Southampton very much!"
Many fans also saw Dong on the big screen and kept shouting at the screen.
Even though Wang Xiaodong is always causing trouble, in the hearts of the saints, he is the Christ who saves the world.
"Haha, Dongya was sprayed all over."
"With his temper, he can't fight back right away!"
The commentator explained jokingly, but Keegan felt a "thump" in his heart.
With Wang Xiaodong's violent temper, he might do something outrageous like this.
At this time, everyone on the screen was attracted by the sticky Coke, and no one noticed that they were on the big screen and could be seen by all the fans.
At this moment, not only Keegan, but also Bell and Dyer on the court had their hearts in their throats, fearing that Wang Xiaodong would do something outrageous again.
If he is really caught by the Football Association and seen by fans all over England, Wang Xiaodong's accumulated reputation and future career may be completely ruined!
Just as his teammates were sweating for Wang Xiaodong, Wang Xiaodong finished wiping his seat and backrest and sat down again.
Unlike the group of white fans who avoided him, Wang Xiaodong even took out a few pieces of paper and helped the fat black man wipe his shoulders and collar.
It wasn't until Wang Xiaodong wiped off the Coke on the surface that the fat black man who had his face covered with popcorn reacted.
He turned his head and gave Wang Xiaodong an extremely embarrassing smile.
He had been treated the same way countless times over the years because of his skin color and weight.
The reason why he is still here is because of his love for Southampton.
But this time, he felt different.
On the screen, Wang Xiaodong stretched out his right hand and punched Mr. Hei.
Then, Wang Xiaodong grabbed the popcorn on the opponent's "chest muscles" and stuffed it into his mouth.
Fatty Hei also grabbed a handful, put it in his mouth and chewed it.
In this way, the two of them easily left behind these white guys with ZZism.
To deal with this kind of person, just ignore him!
It wasn't until he saw the two laughing that the camera switched to the court again.
At this moment, the entire visiting team's stands suddenly burst into uniform applause.
This applause is also given to Southampton and the Saints players, but that person is not on the court.
Without the camera, Bell looked from a distance and saw only a small dot of Wang Xiaodong in the crowd. At this moment, he seemed to be stretching his arms and applauding Southampton non-stop.
Seeing this scene, Bell took a deep breath and started to run slowly.
boom!
The ball was scooped up by Bell's left foot in an instant, drew an inclined arc in the air, passed over the top of the wall, and flew directly into the lower right corner of the goal.
The talented boy Bell, after speed and header, showed off a new unique skill in front of the world.
