"You can still run, you guys."
In the locker room, George Lee asked his players.
It is now the 19th round of the Premier League. Leeds United plays Manchester City at home. Halfway through the game, the score is now 1-1.
But what Li George couldn't accept was that two players were injured and left the field in just the first half.
Ian Hart was running directly at first, then suddenly sat on the ground. After the team doctor checked, he found that he had strained his thigh muscle. This was the second time this season. Counting the offseason training warm-up, it was already the third time. Three times.
Not long after he replaced Hart with Leighton Baynes, the team's midfielder Edgar Davis was injured in a fight with the opponent's forward Anelka. Lee George could only use Pegasus. Dessen replaced Davis.
Counting these two in the first half, Leeds United has already injured six players.
Most of them are still the main players of the team. Now that Van Persie and Romedal are missing from the frontcourt, Leeds United's current offense is constipated again. The remaining frontcourt players really need speed and technology, technology and speed, but there is no two. Good at all.
Then there is the defensive line. Mateo is injured and has not played a few games this season. This basically means that after this season, George Lee will sell the former Leeds United captain.
Another injured person on the defense line is Albchesson. The Danish central defender sprained his ankle during training. After examination, it was a minor sprain and he will be sidelined for more than ten days.
So now Leeds United is basically in a semi-main force state on the field, otherwise it would not have been tied with the 10th-ranked Manchester City.
I, Leeds United, have been able to deal with Arsenal, Manchester United, and Chelsea before, and the fights were back and forth. Even Liverpool won, and now I am beaten by you, Manchester City.
“In the second half, we switched positions.”
"James, come to midfield and leave the right side for Jesper."
Lee moved Milner into midfield, leaving Glenchard to play on the right.
"Morten, you come here, play on the left, and cross a little more with Leyton."
George Lee put Pedersen, who was originally playing midfielder, on the left.
"Ori, try to score another one in the second half."
Oscarson nodded. In the first half, it was Oscarson who received Pedersen's corner kick that helped Leeds United equalize the score.
After talking about the tactics for the second half, George Li asked the players to rest and replenish water.
"Fxxk..." He turned around and slapped the table to vent his inner anger.
Two substitutions were used in the first half, and now he does not dare to make casual substitutions in the second half. He must keep one substitution on hand just in case.
In fact, this game was an away game for Manchester City, so the action was not too big, but in the first half, Leeds United injured two people inexplicably.
Lee George now understands how Ferguson felt that the cards in his hand were not enough during the game against Manchester United.
One reason why wealthy clubs hoard many excellent players is because they have to fight on multiple fronts and can carry out appropriate player rotation. Another thing is that if there is an injury in a position, there can be a player to cover it so that the team's strength will not be compromised.
George Lee asked Ferguson several times, but Ferguson refused to sell Wes Brown to Leeds United. This was also the reason.
"It seems that we need to take some action in the winter window. This won't work." Brian Kidd, standing next to Lee, said to George Lee.
"Let's see again. It doesn't necessarily last how long the injury lasts. We can't make up for it just because someone is injured. This is not good for the injured players. I suggest we take a look first and don't be blind." Jordi Ke on the other side Ruyff had different advice.
"Let's finish the current game first." George Li sighed. After venting just now, he felt much better.
"I hope these guys on the field can perform well." Kidd glanced at the resting players.
"Basically no substitutions are allowed. I hope they can persevere."
The intermission passed quickly.
The referee blew the kick-off sound again for the second half.
Manchester City took the lead in the second half. Anelka passed the ball to Fowler and then ran forward.
Fowler did not pass back, but handed it to Wright-Phillips on the left.
Now other Premier League teams are familiar with Leeds United's routines. Seeing that Leeds United's frontcourt players have their own defense, they will not easily pass the ball back too deep, but will drive the ball away in advance, because Leeds United's frontcourt players Once the ball is lost due to field pressure, they are basically waiting to get the ball in the goal.
Several teams have suffered losses before.
Manchester City's head coach today, Stuart Pearce, has obviously studied Leeds United. Basically, he did not give Leeds United a chance to directly face his central defender when pressing, and tried to play the ball to both wings.
Manchester City's two wingers Wright-Phillips and Bosvelt also performed well today, posing threats to Leeds United's rear many times.
Manchester City was the first to score in the first half. Wright-Phillips used his speed to get rid of Mills on the left. After entering the penalty area, he swept the ball to the goal. Anelka grabbed the spot and scored.
It is said that Wright-Phillips' outstanding performance this season has attracted the attention of Chelsea, who are paying close attention to this black boy with Jamaican and Grenada descent and are preparing to introduce him in the summer.
And Anelka, who scored the goal, also performed well today. The French forward, who had been extremely unstable before, got the top spot in the draw today, and his footwork was very smooth.
In short, George Li has already explained the backcourt during halftime, so we must pay special attention to these two points.
In the second half, Leeds United especially strengthened its defense against Phillips. Milner and Mills, who came in the midfield, kept staring at Phillips and tried not to give him a chance to catch the ball comfortably.
But this kind of defense gave Manchester City an opportunity in the middle.
In the 58th minute of the game, Manchester City midfielder Stephen Jordan passed a direct pass from the midfielder to Anelka who was outside the Leeds penalty area. Anelka cleverly came up with a kick. , passed to Robbie Fowler who moved into the Leeds penalty area.
Facing the attacking Robinson, Fowler calmly pushed the ball into the near corner.
Before Fowler could celebrate, he saw the linesman raise his flag.
Leeds United dodged a bullet.
George Lee found that he was worried for the first time today. He had been worried that his defense would be blown out. After all, Matthew Kilgallon still had too little Premier League experience. Facing Fowler and Anelka, Two old fried dough sticks, still a little lacking in heat.
George Li turned around and held his head, thinking about what method to use to cope with the next game.
Suddenly I heard the referee blowing his whistle.
Turning around again, I found that the players were rushing towards the sideline in the opponent's half.
Because Li was at this end of the court, he couldn't see clearly what was happening on the other side, except that a group of people were surrounding him.
At this time, several members of the Leeds United coaching staff walked up to Li George. After Li George asked Kidd, he found out that it was Grenjaer who was kicked down by Manchester City defender Sun Jihai.
Now from the crowd that was gradually dispersing, I could see Grenchar holding his calf and not getting up.
"Nas!" George Li shouted in the distance, calling Derwig back.
He no longer dared to let Grenchar stay on the court anymore. As the only uninjured player in the frontcourt trio, Grenchar could not fall again. Lee George decided to play regardless of whether he was injured or not. Grenchar is to be replaced.
Leeds United used the last substitution place, and No. 22 Derwig replaced No. 7 Grenchar.
After Glenjar left the field, the team doctor told Li that George should be fine after an examination, but the specific situation still required a detailed examination.
After coming on, De Versch brought the latest instructions from Lee George to the Leeds United players. First, he found the captain Smith and communicated with Smith next to his ear. Smith then called several other midfielders and frontcourt players to form a circle and talk.
It wasn't until the referee came to urge the set kick that everyone dispersed.
The second half of the game was quite tense, with both sides going back and forth, attacking and defending each other.
Just when the game was about to end and everyone thought it was going to end in a draw, someone stood up.
That person was Derwig who was substituted in the second half.
Just when the fourth official raised his sign and there were 5 minutes of stoppage time in the second half.
Leeds United's Mills threw a side ball and threw the ball directly to Derwig. Derwig accelerated and passed Manchester City midfielder Stephen Jordan.
After passing, Derwig was on the right side of the center circle.
At this time, Manchester City's left back Sylvain Distin rushed forward, while center back Dunn was retreating.
Derwig chose to deal with Distin. He moved the outside of his right foot and rushed toward Distin with a volley.
This ball seemed a bit big, as if it was going to be brought directly to Distin's feet.
But everyone underestimated Derwig's speed. Derwig touched the ball first before Distin's feet touched the ball, changed the direction of the ball, and rolled past Distin.
Because Distin had stretched out his feet, he completely lost his position, and Derwig flashed past him.
When Distin turned around to pull him away, it was already too late. He didn't even touch the corner of Derwig's clothes. He only saw the afterimage of the Norwegian, whose figure was gradually getting bigger with him.
After passing Distin, Dunn could no longer retreat and was ready to make up the defense.
Just when Dunn was about to leave, Derwig, who was already on the line of the penalty area, passed the ball to Smith who was diagonally behind him.
Smith started running when Derwig passed the first Jordan, but he couldn't hold off the Norwegian because he was too fast. He rushed all the way and finally caught up with his teammate near the penalty area.
Dervish seemed to pass the ball without even looking until Smith would be there.
Smith saw the ball rolling towards him, passed it directly behind Dunn with a one-two.
As soon as Dunn was about to move forward, he saw that Smith was about to pass the ball behind him. It was too late to block it, so he watched the ball fly behind him.
The ball was passed a bit wide, and when it reached the penalty area, Manchester City goalkeeper James had already attacked.
But Derwig was faster. He touched the ball before James and sent the ball into the goal. However, he was hit by James and fell to the ground, turning over twice.
"Nessi! Goooooooooooooal!" the live broadcast shouted with the loudest voice.
After hearing the goal, Derwig lay on the ground and did not get up.
The other Leeds United players rushed towards Derwig, jumped on him, and piled on top of him.
The stack of arhats got higher and higher, and Gravesen finally came over and pulled the people off one by one.
"Don't pull me, my legs... I can't move them." Derwig said at the bottom.
"Get up, Ness," Smith said to Derwig.
"Captain, I really can't get up. My legs and knees can't seem to move. It hurts...hiss~"
The teammates who had just dispersed gathered around again to check the situation.
The referee also came forward and urged the Leeds United players to return to the game, because the Manchester City players had already protested to him against the Leeds United players for delaying time.
But seeing Derwig hugging his knees, his expression didn't look fake.
I quickly called the medical staff to come over. Fortunately, they were outside the court and did not affect the progress of the game.
Until the end, Derwig did not return to the field. He was taken on a stretcher all the way to the bench for treatment.
Leeds United finally responded with 10 men, held on for the last few minutes, and won 2-1 with difficulty.
Lee George affirmed Derwig's performance in the post-match interview and called him Leeds United's savior today.
However, he then received the team's inspection report on Derwig.
Torn cruciate ligament and ended the season.
Leeds United injured 4 players in order to score 3 points against Manchester City.
Big loss.
