After Ferguson spoke to Lee George.
Leeds United, led by Lee George, defeated Aston Villa 3-1 in the 28th round of the league and continued to maintain the lead over Liverpool in the standings.
Just when Leeds United fans were looking forward to the team being able to continue to stay in the Champions League, Leeds United suddenly began to fall behind. Lee George's team suffered three consecutive defeats in mid-March, especially in the key battle with Liverpool on March 21, losing 1-2 to Liverpool at Anfield.
It was this game that enabled Liverpool to overtake Leeds United in the standings. After more than half a season, Liverpool finally reached the top four in the league and also performed brilliantly in the Champions League.
In Group A, he entered the top 16 as second in the group, and then eliminated Bayer Leverkusen twice 3-1 in the top 16. Then in the quarter-finals, he led 2-1 at home in the first game. Juventus.
Benitez bought Morientes in the winter window. The arrival of Morientes instantly solved Liverpool's existing forward problems.
It was that day that Morientes had a great impact on Leeds United's defense. He first held the ball and was brought down, allowing Gerrard to score Leeds United's goal with a set piece, and then his shot was not blocked by Robinson. Hold on and let Luis Garcia succeed in the follow-up shot.
In the other two games, Leeds United lost 0-1 to their opponents, namely Blackburn Rovers ranked 16th and West Bromwich Albion ranked 19th.
Leeds United had bullied the weak and feared the strong for a period of time, but now it is better and wants to become a friend of the relegation zone.
In the final analysis, the reason is that the team once again encountered widespread injuries.
It just so happened that George Lee had to use a substitution place to replace an injured player in each of the three games instead of using it as a tactical substitution.
Jesper Grenchar, Eunice Matheson, and Gary Kelly will all be out for one to two months.
Also, in the national team match in March, Martin Albchesson and Danny Mills both came back from injuries. Albchesson was okay. Now he is sitting firmly with his good performance at Leeds United. He occupied the position of Denmark's main central defender and was injured during the game. Mills suffered a strained calf muscle during national team training. Lee has greeted Eriksen from behind countless times. Smith has performed well this season. Eriksen insisted on his opinion and did not call Smith into the national team, and also injured Mills.
Regarding the list of the England national team, Lee George unexpectedly raised his dissatisfaction in the media interview. He believed that Eriksson made a mistake by not selecting Smith for the national team. Smith is fully capable of representing the national team. , and can perform well. Especially now that the England national team is facing a replacement in the frontcourt, Owen has been injured, Rooney is too young, and Heskey is not mentioned. At this time, Smith is more suitable for the national team.
Eriksson also said that he would consider Lee's proposal and would inspect Smith more in the future. He also hoped that Smith could maintain his current competitive state.
Lee George also accepted the proposal, and then began to say good things about Eriksson in front of the media, but it all came to an abrupt end after Mills was injured.
The main reason is that George Lee has no time to talk nonsense with Eriksson now. His team has just experienced three consecutive losses. If he loses again, he may really lose his job and go to Mr. Black's "Charles Fried Fish". French fries.
Lee George hopes that in Leeds United's next home game against Crystal Palace, Leeds United can reverse its recent decline with a hearty victory, and it is best to seize the opportunity to return to the top four in the league again.
^^^
On the afternoon of April 10th, Elland Road Stadium.
The home fans almost filled the Elland Road stadium, and when the players entered the stadium, cheers and cheers filled the entire stadium.
Except for a very small number of fans who held signs saying "George Lee dismissed!", the other fans also applauded when George Lee came on the stage. After all, last season, Leeds United was still fighting for relegation, but this season, Leeds United has rushed to the upper reaches of the standings.
But this time George Li didn't wave back to the fans or raise his hands to applaud as before. Instead, he walked solemnly to the coaching bench for the interview.
Now the team has lost three games in a row, and almost half of the main players are injured and cannot play. Today's game is still completely unknown.
Today, Leeds United deployed a 433 formation, with Leighton Baines, Dominic Mateo, Matthew Kilgallen, and James Milner partnering with Paul Robinson to form the defense. The three midfielders are Nigel De Jong, Edgar Davis and Alan Smith. With the arrival of De Jong, Eric Buck's playing time has been greatly shortened. Buck, who was originally Gravesson's substitute, still served as a substitute after Gravesson missed the game due to injury.
The good news is that the previously injured Robin Van Persie has returned from injury. In the last game he lost to West Bromwich Albion, Van Persie came on as a substitute in the second half to adapt to the game. And from the game, it can be seen that Van Persie's condition has recovered well. After coming on the field, he caused several threatening attacks, but unfortunately he did not score.
Today Van Persie will form Leeds United's striker combination with Denis Romedal and Daniel Bratten.
The home fans also applauded Leeds United's No. 9 player who had just recovered from injury.
During the warm-up, Smith took the initiative to find Van Persie and humped him.
"Look at the coach, he looks really bad."
"Humph, without me, you really exhausted the coach."
Originally, when Smith heard this, he definitely wanted to chat with Van Persie and taunt each other, but this time he did not open his mouth, which was rare.
Smith has been very honest recently and stopped going to nightclubs. After all, the head coach has been in a bad mood recently.
George Li is a person who doesn't show his thoughts on his face. This is due to the good education he received when he was a child. He was also born in a wealthy family, so he developed a good upbringing since he was a child.
But after three consecutive defeats, George Li's face has never looked good, and he doesn't talk as much as before.
The team's assistant coach Brian Kidd privately told the players that he has had a lot more gray hair recently, and asked the players to calm down recently, perform well on the court, and not cause trouble for George Lee off the court.
Smith must have listened, he was honest off the court. It is also thanks to him that Van Persie got enough rest. The period before his comeback is usually the most difficult time, because he has basically recovered completely, and the restless heart that was suppressed by the injury starts to pound again. jumped up.
It's fine now. It's useless to be restless. No one will go with us. Who dares to go at this juncture.
George Li is cracking down hard.
Kilgallen was hired as a personal trainer by George Lee because he was not serious about tactical training. Colin McGee took Kilgallen to the gym after training for three consecutive days to build muscles and improve physical fitness.
Because Baines did not dare to fight during training, George Lee punished him with a nutritious meal. Poor Baynes eats in the team cafeteria and has a specific diet, without even a choice.
"I estimate that if we don't win today's game, we may not be able to go to nightclubs in Leeds in the future. Do you believe it?"
"Not that much."
"If the coach resigns, he will definitely inherit the family business, then buy all the nightclubs in Leeds, and then put our heads on the door and never let us take another step."
"Why do I feel that those two people are a little different today."
Van Persie did not continue the topic of the nightclub, but asked Baynes and Kilgallen who were warming up in training on the side.
"One went crazy from practicing, and the other ate too much."
"..."
George Li folded his arms and stood quietly on the sidelines watching his team's training.
At this time, the broadcast footage was shown to Li.
BBC commentator Lee Dixon began to explain.
"The game will start soon. Before the game started, we saw Leeds United's head coach Lee George looking very serious. The team has lost three consecutive games and he needs to find a way to turn the situation around."
"We hope that Coach Li can smile a little today. After all, we have seen this expression from him for three consecutive games."
Dixon's partner Simon Brotton is on Lee's side and he is more optimistic about Leeds United winning today.
And Dixon is indeed not optimistic about Leeds United.
"Leeds United has started to suffer more injuries recently. In my opinion, Leeds United should have a more difficult time in today's game."
But the course of the game was exactly the opposite of what Dixon expected.
Only 7 minutes into the game, Crystal Palace defender Danny Glanville brought down Robin van Persie in front of the penalty area, and Leeds United won a well-positioned set piece.
Because the team's original kickers Ian Hart and Morten Pedersen were not on the court, the ball was directly taken by Van Persie. Van Persie made a high-quality kick with his left foot. The ball flew directly around the wall and towards the blind corner of the goal. Crystal Palace goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly, who likes to play in gray baggy sweatpants, did not rush to save it.
1 to 0.
After scoring, Van Persie ran to the sidelines excitedly and was about to take off his jersey to celebrate. At this time, Smith, who was running behind Van Persie, sped over and grabbed Van Persie's hand, stopping his movement.
Because after 2004, FIFA announced that the referee would show a yellow card to celebrate after scoring a goal. In the previous rounds of the league, Smith was too excited and took off his jersey after scoring, and then he was shown a yellow card. It was because of the accumulated yellow cards that he was suspended, thus missing the crucial battle with Liverpool.
So when Smith saw Van Persie about to take off his clothes, he quickly went up and grabbed him.
Brother, it's only less than 10 minutes. Don't be impulsive. It's still a long time. What should you do if you still have more than 80 minutes?
Van Persie was a little angry when he saw that he was stopped in the middle of his action, and wanted to see who was not afraid of death to hold him back.
Then Smith pointed to Lee, who was still crossing his arms on the sidelines. Van Persie calmed down and chose a normal celebration to celebrate with the fans.
When the game continued in the 23rd minute, Leeds United scored again. It was Van Persie who received a through ball from Smith and succeeded in countering offside. Facing the attacking Crystal Palace goalkeeper, he chose a lob shot and easily scored the ball.
2 to 0.
Van Persie, who scored the goal, first jogged to look at the linesman, saw that the linesman did not raise his flag, and then started to take off his clothes again. This time Smith was a little far away, but fortunately Van Persie realized it and turned to the corner kick. They knelt down to celebrate, and the Leeds United players behind them also knelt down toward the corner, leaving a trail of marks.
Seeing this goal, George Li finally stopped crossing his arms, instead clenching his hands into fists and looking up to the sky with a long shout.
The team's main forward is finally back and has recovered a lot. Now he is finally relieved and the team can once again launch an attack on the top four.
Then he spun around in a circle and stamped his feet, venting the emotions he had suppressed recently.
But it wasn't over yet, Leeds United's goals in the first half continued.
In the 41st minute of the game, it was still Van Persie.
Romedal broke through the Crystal Palace defense and passed in. With someone marking the top of the arc, Van Persie volleyed with his left foot and completed the hat trick with a world-wide kick.
3 to 0.
After scoring the goal, Van Persie ignored him, took off his clothes, swung it around, ran towards George Lee, and then jumped on him.
"Well done, Robin."
"I'm back, coach."
This pair of coaches and players have been depressed for too long.
After celebrating, Van Persie received the first gift from the referee today, a yellow card.
In the end, Leeds United entered the second half with a score of 3-0.
050 left behind 2
Just when Smith and Romedal surrounded Van Persie and entered the locker room, they saw Li George still crossing his arms with a serious expression on his chest, staring at the few of them who returned to the locker room later.
Several people were so frightened that they didn't dare to say a word.
At this time, George Li was the first to lose his nerve and burst out laughing.
"Okay, I can't pretend anymore."
Seeing Li like this, everyone else also laughed.
"Look at you, you were really worried at the beginning."
Brian Kidd stepped forward and patted him.
"Isn't it? I have never lost three games in a row."
Chris Casper also joked.
"George, you should pretend for another 45 minutes. Maybe Robin can score three more in the second half."
"You know me, I really can't pretend anymore."
Everyone knows that George Li is an optimistic and outgoing person. Especially when dealing with colleagues and friends, it is impossible for him to say a few words for an entire period of time.
However, sometimes he will be too shy to let go, especially when the referee's penalty is unfair on the court. George Lee generally doesn't argue with the referee, and he won't make any comments in media interviews after the game. A rather sharp statement.
Brian Kidd and Eddie Gray, as former players, once mentioned this matter to Lee, saying that when necessary, the head coach needs to put some pressure on the referee when he discovers that the referee's penalty is biased during the game, and at the same time receives controversial penalty decisions. Sometimes you can also put pressure on the Football Association through the media, otherwise others will think you are easy to bully.
But George Li agreed perfunctorily every time, but the actual effect was not obvious.
After all, George Li is only in his early 30s, and this is his first season as a head coach. Especially in his previous life, as a data analyst, he had some tricks up his sleeve when it came to introducing players and making tactical arrangements, but there was nothing he could do about his personality. changed. Li can get along well with the team, but if you want him to be a homebody in his previous life, it's definitely not possible for him to come and quarrel with others. He is good at being a little bit weird in private.
During halftime, Lee George asked Van Persie, who had just returned from injury and scored a hat-trick, if he needed to take a rest, but Van Persie refused and said he could continue to play.
This is another characteristic of Lee George. When he rotates players, he usually respects the players' opinions instead of making direct decisions himself. He believes that any of his actions may affect the players' hearts and thus change their behavior. Especially some of the players he likes more, such as Robin van Persie, Smith, Graveson, etc., and of course Leighton Baines is included here.
This is why in that game, after George Lee noticed that Baynes was depressed because he did not start, he directly sent him to play in the second half.
As Ian Hart grows older and suffers more injuries, coupled with Baines' rapid growth, it will only be a season or two before Baines replaces Hart as Leeds United's main left back.
Time passed quickly, the intermission ended quickly, and the players returned to the court one after another.
In the second half, Leeds United still took the initiative. Crystal Palace had nothing to do against Leeds United. Robin van Persie's return made Leeds United's frontcourt offensive methods more abundant. Unlike before, when Oscarson and Bratten were the forwards, they were more passive. single. Even sometimes the effect of Smith appearing in the forward position is not very good. George Lee also believes that the midfielder is the most suitable position for Smith.
Crystal Palace chose to defend in the second half and did not choose to fight to the death. They just hoped that Leeds United would not widen the score.
In the second half, due to the 3-0 lead, Leeds United's players were obviously not as focused as they were in the first half. Especially in the offense, it was difficult to play with that smooth flow, and there were many passing errors.
It was not until 70 minutes of the game that Li stood on the sidelines of the court, shouted the players' names several times, and then crossed his arms with a straight face, that the players became serious again and did not dare to be careless.
In the 74th minute, Baynes stole a Crystal Palace offensive player and played a one-two with De Jong, but De Jong's ball was too big and almost passed to the feet of the Crystal Palace defender. Fortunately, Baynes was fast. , fell to the ground in front of the opponent Leigh Tewood, poked the ball, and rubbed the ball under the feet of Daniel Bratten in front.
When Bratten gets the ball, he is already in the opponent's half. There is no one in front of him, so Bratten has a lot of choices. He can pass or shoot. But no matter what, you have to move forward before you can choose.
Bratten started dribbling the ball. In fact, there was no need to make more choices, because although Bratten was on the left, he could only use his right foot. It is definitely impossible to get down, not in this life. Otherwise, whether it is passing or shooting, you can only cut inside and put the ball on your right foot.
Braaten came to the penalty area, faced the defending center back, moved his right foot, took a small step and shot.
The ball was hit to Smith who was running. Smith originally wanted to make a forward move and take away Hall, another center back of Crystal Palace. However, he looked up to see where Bratten was and whether he was passing the ball to him. . Little did he know that Braaten had already hit the goal, but the ball still came towards his head and was about to hit him.
Smith didn't want to cause trouble for his teammates, so he squatted down and lowered his head.
Crystal Palace goalkeeper Kiraly was still moving left and right because his line of sight was blocked, but he was also surprised when he saw the strange movement of the opponent player Smith.
What action!
But he immediately realized something was wrong. Smith's head was lowered, and a ball flew over from behind.
Bratten's right foot is indeed powerful, otherwise he, a player who only knows his right foot, would not be allowed to play on the left wing. The team obviously has Pedersen who has an excellent left foot, but Lee still let Bratten start. It is because Romedal on the right is right-footed that it is inconvenient to hit the goal after cutting inside. Van Persie often has to appear on the right to make up for this shortcoming, so the cutting attack on the left can only rely on Bratten, thus making the goal more difficult. The wing was given to Baynes.
Braaten's shot is really popular all over the world. This shot is perfect in terms of strength and angle. It has an arc and a drop.
When Kirali reacted, the ball had already flown to his left side, and it was at the waist. It was very uncomfortable not to touch the ground. He could only push the ground with his right foot and reach for it with his left hand.
He actually touched the football with his finger and blocked it.
But the ball really didn't roll far. Van Persie, who was rushed from far away, rushed the ball into the goal before Kirali made a second save.
4 to 0.
Van Persie was very calm after scoring the goal and hardly celebrated because he had seen Oscarson standing next to the fourth official before. At this time, the first thing he did was not to take off his clothes, otherwise he would go down. Oscarson couldn't come up.
He ran to the coaching bench and gave Li a high-five.
Then he started to raise his hands to signal to the fans, and then the home fans gave the Dutch forward the warmest applause.
Finally, he hugged Oscarson and left.
After coming off the field, he waved to the audience again, and Elland Road once again burst into applause and cheers.
The Dutch forward faced a scoring drought when he first came to Leeds United and could never score. Later, he gradually found his form and scored consecutive goals. Then he encountered an injury when he was in good condition. Finally, he came back at the end of the season when the team needed goals. Today, he scored four goals in his first start after returning. This is enough to show Van Persie's strength and the vision of the head coach.
At least after today, Robin van Persie's fellow coach Jordi Cruyff, who has always been unfavorable to Van Persie before, will no longer think that Van Persie can't play center.
In the end, thanks to Robin van Persie's fourth goal, Leeds United defeated Crystal Palace 4-0 at home, ending their losing streak.
^^^
April 21st, it’s still Elland Road.
After 11 consecutive days of rest, Leeds United faced Manchester United at home. Because Arsenal had a schedule conflict with Arsenal in the 33rd round of the league, it was postponed to May, so Leeds United got 11 days of rest.
But this home game against Manchester United did not go well. This can be seen from the handshake between George Lee and his former mentor Ferguson.
During the post-game handshake session, when George Lee and Ferguson shook hands, their smiles were rather forced.
Leeds United is injured by Mateo, and Manchester United is injured by Giggs.
Then there is another person who is injured that no one wants to see, and that is Paul Robinson.
Before the game, George Lee was still thinking about whether to avoid suspicion and not let Robinson play, because Robinson's transfer to Manchester United in the summer has been finalized, and Robinson will represent Manchester United next season.
But Robinson insisted on playing and said that his professionalism would certainly not allow him to let go.
This is indeed the case. Robinson made high passes and low blocks in this game, ensuring that the team did not miss a goal in more than 70 minutes. However, when facing Rooney alone in the 74th minute, Robinson took the lead in grabbing the football when he attacked, but because Rooney His hands and feet were not in time and he kicked Robinson's calf, causing Robinson's leg injury.
Rooney was also shown a yellow card warning for colliding with the goalkeeper. He will be suspended for the next game due to accumulation of yellow cards. This is very bad news for Manchester United, which is in the sprint stage.
What's even more unfortunate is that according to the team doctor's examination, Robinson suffered a leg fracture and is expected to be sidelined for more than half a year.
This means that Robinson will miss all Leeds United's next league games, as well as Manchester United's early season games next season.
This is something neither team wants to encounter.
In the end, Manchester United defeated Leeds United 1-0 in an away game, taking away 3 points, 1 injured Giggs, 1 suspended Rooney, and 1 Robinson who will be absent for a period of time next season.
Compared with Manchester United, Leeds United's defense is even worse. The defense is riddled with holes. Because of Robinson's injury, even the last gate is now gone.
In the next game, Lee George tried Sean Elavi and Scott Carson respectively.
The result was a draw with Birmingham at home, and then losses to Fulham, Newcastle United and Arsenal, ushering in the second three-game losing streak this season.
Especially Elavi's appearance, paired with the equally young Baynes, Kilgallen, Dawson, and Milner, against Arsenal in the 33rd round of the league, it was a disaster, and Arsenal scored 7 goals.
Now Leeds United has completely lost the qualification to enter next season's Champions League. It currently has 55 points and ranks fifth with a goal difference advantage.
Bolton also ranked sixth with 55 points.
The two teams are about to enter the final match of the league. The winner will end the Premier League season 0405 with fifth place in the league, while the loser will only be ranked sixth.
