December 27th.
Cobham training ground.
"Mr. Pan Yi! Mr. Pan Yi!"
Pan Yi had just arrived at the training base, but was stopped by a reporter waiting here.
"Mr. Pan Yi, we have received news that Oscar has submitted a transfer application to the club. Is this true?" the reporter asked loudly with an excited tone.
Pan Yi looked up and saw that he looked familiar, like a reporter from The Sun.
Hey, isn't The Sun only interested in gossip news? When did it get accurate information about this kind of transfer news so quickly?
Also, how could Oscar’s transfer be leaked out like this...
But in any case, when the contract has not been officially signed and the matter has not been completely settled, Pan Yi, as the head coach, does not need to tell reporters the relevant details.
Won’t they know it by then?
If we discuss this kind of thing now, it will affect the team's preparations and the players' mentality.
After all, Oscar is still a member of the team now, even Schurrle.
And Chelsea will go away to challenge Southampton, a difficult team, tomorrow, so it's better not to make matters worse.
Therefore, in response to the Sun reporter's question, Pan Yi just smiled and said: "I don't know where you got the news, but Oscar has always been an important member of Chelsea, and he just scored a key goal for us. .”
This is also a common tactic used to deal with reporters, neither saying yes nor saying no.
Seeing that Pan Yi refused to admit it, the Sun reporter asked a more direct question: "I heard that a team from the Dragon Country is chasing Oscars. Is this true? What does this have to do with you being from the Dragon Country? ?"
"For other teams' matters, you can ask the person in charge of the relevant team. I don't know the recruitment plans of all teams, let alone those of the Dragon Country team. I am from the Dragon Country, but now I have always Leading a football team in the UK, isn’t it?”
With that said, Pan Yi walked towards the training base, not planning to tangle with the reporter anymore.
But reporters still followed closely:
"Chelsea's results are so good now, but Oscar is leaving the team at this time. Is there something wrong with the locker room? Is there any conflict between him and you? Is it because after you arrived, he was no longer Absolutely the main force?"
Of course Pan Yi didn't want to answer any of the reporters' imaginary questions.
This is just like facing trolls online. The more you respond, the more they will find various angles to criticize and doubt you.
"Let's not talk about Oscar." The reporter caught up again, "Let's talk about tomorrow's game against Southampton, Mr. Pan Yi."
"Wouldn't this be mentioned at the pre-match press conference?" Pan Yi shook his head and kept walking.
"Southampton is the 19th opponent you encounter in the Premier League, and it is also the last opponent." The reporter kept talking, "Southampton's head coach Ronald Koeman said that he would take advantage of the home court. If I take you down, won’t you have anything to say to him?”
Pan Yi stopped and told reporters seriously: "Tomorrow's game is just an ordinary Premier League game, and no matter what the game is, we will pursue victory. This is the same for me and Mr. Koeman."
"But what I'm telling you is, if you're expecting any valuable news from me, you're going to be disappointed."
"Because I don't like dealing with people who talk nonsense!"
Then, Pan Yi quickly walked into the door of the training base.
The Sun reporter was stopped by the security guard at the door and had to stop.
There was a look of resentment on his face:
"This person from the Dragon Kingdom is really difficult to deal with!"
However, he has already thought of the front page headline of tomorrow's Sun.
"Pan Yi refuses to comment on Oscar transfer rumors, the truth about the quarrel between Chelsea generals gradually emerges"...
——
Of course Pan Yi is very familiar with Southampton's head coach Ronald Koeman.
Koeman has had a perfect era as a player.
Before Roberto Carlos became famous for his shocking powerful shots, Ronald Koeman was known as the "first heavy gunner in football" and was also the famous "Knife Guard" in football.
In the 1988 European Cup, the Dutch team started low and then went high. They successfully defeated the Soviet Union 2-0 in the final and became the European champions. They became the only major championship won by the uncrowned king so far.
People attribute this championship more to the strength of the "Dutch Three Musketeers" - Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard, but Ronald Koeman also played all five games as the main central defender, and Contributed 1 goal and 1 assist, prompting the "Tulip Legion" to bloom proudly at the top of top competitions.
At the club, after helping PSV win another domestic double crown, he came to Spain, joined Barcelona, and became one of the earliest members of the dream Barcelona team under the legendary godfather Cruyff.
He and Stoichkov, Romario, Guardiola, Michael Laudrup and others who joined the team successively won four consecutive La Liga titles.
In the 1992 Champions League final at Wembley Stadium, in the 112th minute of overtime, Koeman, a sweeper, opened the door guarded by Italian goalkeeper Pagliuca with a ground-breaking free kick.
With this goal, Barcelona defeated Sampdoria 1-0 with Lombardo, Mancini and Vialli, and stood on the top of the Champions League for the first time in history.
As a defender, Koeman has scored more than 200 goals in his career, which is better than many second-rate forwards;
After retiring as a coach, Koeman also showed great strength, so he was favored by many wealthy clubs and "old clubs".
He spent his early days in the Eredivisie and the Portuguese Super League. In the past five years, he led Ajax, Benfica and PSV to the Champions League quarter-finals. Except for Vitesse, who was his first coach, he won championships in the first six clubs he coached.
After coaching PSV, Koeman landed in the five major leagues for the first time. However, in Valencia, he made too many changes to the team, discarding a large number of veterans and changing player positions. Finally, he ranked 10th at the end of the season, but he still ranked 10th. Got a King's Cup.
Koeman's first coaching experience in the five major leagues was unsatisfactory, and then he returned to coach in the Eredivisie.
This summer, Koeman took over Southampton, which had just been promoted to the Premier League for two years.
Southampton is not a wealthy club. In the transfer window when Koeman took over, the five absolute main players last season, Lambert, Lallana, Lovren, Luke Shaw and Chambers, were sold. £109m.
But he also does a lot of things.
They brought in Sean Long from Hull City, future assists king Tadic from Twente, high center forward Pellet from his old club Feyenoord, and future international goalkeeper Foley from Celtic. Ste, Alderweireld on loan from Atletico Madrid, Bertrand on loan and later from Chelsea, together with Fonte, Klein, Wanyama and Schneiderlin who are still in the team, Formed a very combat-effective team.
This season, Koeman has trained Southampton's defense very well, conceding only 14 goals after 18 rounds in the Premier League, which is only slightly worse than Chelsea.
Of course, Chelsea conceded 8 goals!
Considering that Chelsea this season does not belong to the normal dimension, Koeman has done a very good job at Southampton.
Koeman is very good at tapping young and practical people, which may be a characteristic of the Dutchman.
Tactically, Koeman most often uses 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1, always adhering to a 4-back system, focusing on the trident in the frontcourt.
Steven Davis serves as a hot spot and attacker, Tadic serves as a frontcourt free agent connecting the midfield and frontcourt, and Pellet serves as a highly mobile high center forward.
In terms of specific playing methods, Koeman's requirements are actually very simple.
That is, after finding a breakthrough, resolutely go to the wing and fly together, and then pass the ball at the edge of the penalty area, looking for the outflanking center or other players, and the one in the middle is ready for a supplementary shot.
After all, the one at the front of Southampton is the damn Italian cannon!
And his requirements for full-backs are also relatively high. He needs to penetrate deeper to provide great support to the frontcourt and midfield. He can also fly to the opponent's third area and deliver a fatal blow!
At this time, the center back also needs to fill the gap left by the full back in a timely manner.
In the current Southampton formation, the combination of Taggart, Alderweireld, Fonte, and Maya Yoshida is relatively stable. Their tacit cooperation has become the cornerstone of the team's solid defense.
However, Pan Yi is obviously already prepared for how to deal with Koeman's Southampton, and the entire Chelsea team is also prepared.
When you see Stoke City draw with Chelsea once, you all want to grab points, right?
Come on then! ——
December 28, the 19th round of the Premier League.
Southampton's match against Chelsea begins at St. Mary's Stadium at home.
Pan Yi's starting lineup today mainly has changes on the front line.
The starting trident is Schürrle, Lukaku and Oscar.
Koeman was a little surprised when he saw Chelsea's starting lineup.
The first thing that came to his mind was the rumors about Oscar's transfer.
It is said that a team from Dragon Country wants to introduce Oscar, and the player himself also wants to leave. Chelsea will not stop him, and the two sides are negotiating.
There were even reports that Oscar was in a hurry to leave because he had conflicts with the club and the coach;
As for the club, for the sake of the stability of the locker room, they did not hesitate to transfer such an important player.
But look at today’s debut…
Schürrle has already confirmed that he will leave on January 1st, and with Oscar who is deeply involved in transfer rumors, is this going to be a farewell game for them?
After Southampton defeated Crystal Palace 3:1 in the last round, it also surpassed West Ham United, which lost to Chelsea, and rose to fourth place in the standings.
Although Southampton is indeed not a wealthy club, it is still fourth, ranked higher than Arsenal. You have to respect it, right?
Are you treating Southampton as a farewell gift to the players?
Koeman felt a little uncomfortable...
But he also changed his mind:
"That's not right either. If Oscar left because of a conflict with Pan Yi, why would Pan Yi let him play?"
——
The stands at St Mary's Stadium were packed on this day.
Of course they are looking forward to this game!
Southampton is in surprisingly good form this season, and now they have entered the Champions League, which naturally makes them have higher requirements for their team.
Just like today's game against the top of the Premier League.
Is it possible to beat the mighty Chelsea?
Of course, in the eyes of many fans, if they can draw with Chelsea at home, it will be enough to make them proud.
But no one doesn’t want their team to win!
Therefore, from the beginning of the game, the fans were singing and cheering, wanting to give Southampton more support.
Amid the deafening singing of the home fans, Southampton was uncharacteristically more active and pushed the attack line higher.
Koeman's plan is to score the first goal at home and gain the upper hand, so that he will have room to deal with Chelsea.
However, what everyone did not expect was that Chelsea scored a goal with their second shot in their first attack!
Just two minutes into the game, Matic shot a long shot from outside the penalty area. Southampton goalkeeper Foster crossed and saved the ball.
However, the ball was saved by Foster right in front of Oscar on the left side of the goal.
Oscar got ahead of Alderweirer and shot directly!
The football just flew into the goal guarded by Foster.
"Chelsea scored!"
"Only two minutes into the game, Chelsea scored!"
"The player who scored the goal is none other than Oscar! It is rumored that the Brazilian star Oscar is about to leave Chelsea!"
The goal brought St. Mary's Stadium into silence for a moment.
The Southampton fans were singing the team anthem. Before they finished singing it for the first time, they saw their own goal being scored by Chelsea.
Some couldn't believe their eyes and looked up at the live scoreboard.
0:1!
Southampton is one goal behind at home.
This is actually true!
The team conceded the goal in the opening game.
In some fans' minds, bad memories immediately began to flood.
Last season, Southampton lost to Chelsea 0:3 at home, and in the first round at Stamford Bridge, the score was 1:3, which was also a defeat.
If the clock is moved forward a little further, in the short period of time since returning to the Premier League, the two teams have suffered such disastrous defeats as 1:5 and 0:4 in the history of the battle.
As a non-traditional strong team, Southampton's loss is really nothing, and Saints fans can afford to lose.
It's just that if you lose a big score at home, it feels really bad.
And if we conceded the goal at the beginning today, will we have to repeat the previous tragic experience?
The camera focused on the sidelines.
Pan Yi was cheering and then applauded the players on the field;
Ronald Koeman, who was on the home team's coaching bench, crossed his arms and looked at the court with a serious expression.
His expression was dazed for a moment, and then he came back to his senses. Then he started clapping loudly on the sidelines, roaring, and shouting to his players.
He wants his players to stop immersing themselves in the lost ball just now!
This obviously works.
Soon, Southampton's players cleared up from the panic of just conceding the ball, began to reorganize their formation, and launched a counterattack against Chelsea.
This time, they attacked even more fiercely than at the beginning!
The two full-backs, Taggart and Yoshida Maya, pressed directly to the center line, forming a strong offensive support for their own players in the center and frontcourt.
And the intensity of such a counterattack was beyond the expectations of the Chelsea players.
They did not expect Southampton to be so tenacious, unlike many of the weak teams they had faced before, which quickly lost confidence once they conceded a goal in the opening game and then conceded more goals.
After all, everyone knows that once Chelsea scores first, it will be very difficult.
And Southampton also took advantage of the Chelsea players' confusion and quickly launched an effective attack!
In the 8th minute, Wanyama passed the ball diagonally. Tadic dribbled the ball at high speed from the wing. He cut in and suddenly sent a cross.
Terry tried to make a clearance at the front point, but the football was rubbed by him, changed direction, and rolled towards the top of the arc in the penalty area.
Schneiderlin followed up with a long shot.
David Luiz used his body to block the ball again, preventing it from threatening the goal.
But at this time, Southampton's follow-up Italian gunman Pelle held Cahill, and then turned and volleyed. The ball passed over the left hand of Chelsea goalkeeper Courtois and entered the net.
1:1! Southampton equalized the score!
The goal brought joy to St. Mary's Stadium again.
Southampton's players are obviously more confident, attacking harder and cooperating more and more smoothly.
In the 15th minute, they once again played a wonderful attack.
Steven Davis at the winger position and fullback Maya Yoshida cooperated several times and then passed through. Pellet deliberately missed the ball in the middle, and Tadic pushed with his left foot from behind.
This time Courtois reacted very quickly, diving and diving, and the ball hit the post and flew out of the baseline.
"Beautiful attack! Is this the Southampton we remember? It feels like Arsenal!" The commentator also praised Southampton's attack.
Koeman also stood up on the sidelines and applauded the team's attack.
He is in a good mood now.
After all, the team was able to quickly equalize the score even after conceding the goal at the beginning, and so far in the first half of the game, Southampton has performed very tough and played well with Chelsea.
If compared with the two times last season when we faced Chelsea and were beaten by our opponents without the ability to fight back, today's performance in the first half of the game can be said to be quite good.
Pan Yi, on the other hand, was still sitting motionless on the coaching bench, seemingly not in a hurry.
Scaloni couldn't sit still. He put his mouth to Pan Yi's ear: "Boss, I think Southampton's fighting spirit is very strong today, and the game is a bit difficult. Do we need to make any adjustments?" ?”
"No..." Pan Yi shook his head, "No need for the moment. In fact, although they attacked very hard, our performance was not bad. We have to look at it again. Moreover, have you noticed..."
He glanced down Southampton's right flank.
"Are you saying that Yoshida Maya has been very high up during this period?" Scaloni also took a look, thoughtfully.
"That's right." Pan Yi said with a smile, "This will give our wingers Schürrle and Oscar a chance. Just wait and see the implementation of the trapping tactics we deployed before the game!"
——
On the field, Southampton still controlled the ball.
Wanyama picked up the ball in midfield and Matic immediately pressed him.
Wanyama failed to get rid of it several times in a row, so he chose to pass the ball to midfielder Schneiderlin who was receiving the ball on the other side.
But as soon as Schneiderlin got the ball, Kanter pounced on him.
This startled Schneiderlin, and he quickly took two steps to the side. Then he saw that his full-back Yoshida Maya had already come up, and there was no one around him to defend him.
So Schneiderlin passed the ball to Maya Yoshida without hesitation.
But the problem is, this pressing is actually Chelsea's trap!
Almost at the same time, Marcos Alonso, who had been prepared for a long time, suddenly stepped forward, intercepted the ball on the passing line and got the ball.
Marcos Alonso didn't hesitate at all after taking the ball, and passed the ball to Matic, allowing him to organize a counterattack.
Matic still did not let the ball stay at his feet. After a long pass, the ball passed high over Southampton's midfield and flew to Chelsea's left wing.
There, a blue figure appeared, it was Xuerle!
Maya Yoshida pressed too close, and a gap appeared behind him.
Matic's pass flew directly there, Schurrle was chasing the ball, and no one around him was guarding him.
This is mainly because Southampton pressed too hard on the right during this period. They did not expect that their pass would be intercepted, nor did they expect that Chelsea's counterattack would come so quickly, and that Matic's pass would be so timely. and accurate.
Schürrle stretched out his foot to gently stop the ball. In the process, he did not slow down, but continued to move forward at a high speed.
"pretty!"
"Schürrle stops the ball beautifully and dribbles the ball very quickly. This is his advantage."
"This should be his last game for Chelsea. He will join the Bundesliga team Wolfsburg after the winter window officially opens."
"Of course, it is precisely because of his outstanding performance at Chelsea that Wolfsburg is willing to pay close to 40 million euros to bring him back to Germany."
"It is said that during this transfer process, Pan Yi gave the green light throughout the entire process, which also makes us sigh with emotion at Chelsea's strong personnel reserves. In addition, there is now a lot of rumors that the Oscar is about to... wait, let's take a look at this first ball!"
"Chelsea's counterattack is coming! This is one of their best ways to score goals!"
At this time, Southampton's defense was also actively retreating, and Yoshida Ma was also desperately chasing back, but he found that he could not catch up with the running German.
"There are only Fonte and Alderweireld in Southampton's penalty area. Chelsea's counterattack is too sharp! Matic's transfer of the ball just now was too accurate."
"And judging from the beginning of this counterattack, Chelsea's steals were all premeditated."
"The two defensive midfielders went to press the opponent's double defensive midfielders, deliberately missing Maya Yoshida to attract the pass to this side, and then let Marcos Alonso steal..."
"Now it's up to Schurrle to see how he handles the ball! Will he cut inside and shoot? No, he's going to pass the ball!"
Scherle passed a ground ball.
Lukaku receives the ball in front and Alderweireld is guarding him.
Lukaku raised his right foot, trying to stop the ball.
Alderweireld held Lukaku tightly and prevented him from turning around.
Lukaku raised his right foot, but instead of stopping the ball, he used his heel to knock the football behind him.
Lu Yuanwai's arrogant back-heel pass!
Almost at this moment, Oscar, who was originally at the rear, suddenly accelerated and rushed over.
Font followed quickly.
However, by this time it was already too late.
Rushing to the ball, Oscar volleyed directly on the spot!
"Oscar! He shot!" Accompanied by the commentator's roar, the ball that was picked up by Oscar was already heading towards the goal.
The ball sailed past the left side of Foster's body and directly into the net.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL! The ball has been scored again!!!"
When the ball flew into the net, the players on Chelsea's bench rushed out one by one, waved their fists, clapped, and cheered excitedly.
Just as Pan Yi was about to cheer, he was hugged tightly by Scaloni and Steve Holland.
This go-ahead goal made both assistant coaches excited!
In the away team's stands, Chelsea fans also jumped up from their seats in an instant, cheering and shouting.
"One to two! Oscar's goal helped Chelsea surpass the score again!"
"This is Oscar's second goal in today's game, a beautiful goal! At the same time, he also completed three shots and one pass in the past two Premier League games!"
"Is Oscar really going to transfer to the Dragon Country team?...Look at Oscar's performance and his goals! How could Pan Yi be willing to let such a player go?"
"Is it true that there is a conflict between him and Pan Yi, as the Sun said?"
"But if there was really a conflict, why would Pan Yi let him play again?..."
After scoring the goal, Oscar was pumping his fists hard and shouting.
Even though he has decided to leave, on the court he works as hard as ever.
If we go by the numerical values in the FM game, he may have a relatively low "ambition" but a relatively high "career".
Today is his last game at Stamford Bridge, and of course he hopes to use his best performance to make Chelsea fans remember him.
From joining Chelsea in the summer of 2012 to leaving in the winter of 2014, his Blue Bridge years happened to be——
Two and a half years!
(End of chapter)
