"So, he didn't get a new haircut."
"Yes, I told him not to change it at that time, because Carl liked your blond hair very much."
"Yeah?"
"I lied to him. Karl likes Ronaldinho's hairstyle. He even bought a hair tie himself a few days ago."
"You are so bad."
Leeds United's home game against Blackburn Rovers in the third round of the English League Cup is now halfway through, and the score is 1-1.
Players from both sides were entering the stadium in the second half, and Lee George was chatting with Brian Kidd on the sidelines.
In this game, Leeds United sent a semi-main lineup to face Blackburn because it was a multi-line battle.
In the league's opening game, Leeds United defeated Blackburn with a score of 4-1. This was the second meeting between the two teams in three months.
Leeds United's starting goalkeeper today is Edwin van der Sar, and the four defenders are Hart, Kevin Dawson, Anton Ferdinand and Kelly.
Smith wore the captain's armband today in the presence of Kelly, partnering De Jong and Parker.
The two wings are Pederson and Milner.
The lone striker is Andy Gray.
It can be said that except for Van der Sar, Parker and Smith, almost all are substitutes. But this does not mean that Leeds United is not strong enough. On the contrary, it still takes the initiative on the court. Although the score is 1 to 1, this does not affect George Lee and Kidd's bragging on the sidelines.
"Blackburn's form has been very ups and downs this year."
"Win, lose, win, but the losers are all strong teams?"
"I believe this. After all, they lost to us in the first round."
"Haha~, you are quite good at overestimating yourself."
"It was...what happened...who was hurt again."
While George Lee and Kidd were chatting, someone from Leeds United fell to the ground again.
Unfortunately, the unlucky guy who fell to the ground was Alan Smith again.
During the scramble just now, when Blackburn player Kizanishvili took off, he did not hit the ball. Instead, he hit Smith, who had taken off before him. Both of them lost their balance when they landed.
Then Smith fell to the ground first, and then Kizanishvili also fell. By chance, the bottom of his sneaker kicked Smith's head when he went down.
Milner saw that Big Brother, who had been a little unlucky recently, was injured again, and hurried up to check the situation.
When he saw that it was okay, he quickly signaled for the team doctor to come up.
But Smith sat up first. He doesn't like the kind of person who rolls on the ground and pretends to be pitiful to deceive the referee's feelings.
This sitting startled everyone around him.
There was blood all over Smith's head, hair, and clothes.
In particular, his blond hair, white jersey, and bright red blood formed a clear contrast.
"Damn, I just came back and here we go again." George Li was also very anxious. Smith couldn't be injured again. He just became the official captain of the team today and lost his fortune. Is this a catastrophe?
George Li watched the team doctor go up, then first checked the wound, and then helped Smith up and took him to the sidelines.
George Li quickly stepped forward to check the situation.
"It's not a big problem. Just bandage the head. It looks scary. It's a small cut." The team doctor explained Smith's condition to him.
"That's good." Li was relieved.
George Li glanced at Smith, and Smith was also looking at him.
"How about...win the game for me after you get on the field."
Seeing Smith's determined eyes, he still didn't say anything about finally replacing Smith.
After a simple bandage, Smith returned to the court with gauze and a net on his head.
As Smith stood on the sideline waiting for the dead ball.
Leeds United's Elland Road stadium erupted with a roaring sound like a tsunami.
"Come on, Alan!" "Real man!" "Kill Blackburn!"
Blackburn made a pass error and sent the ball out to the sideline.
Smith came on the court again, raised his left hand, and a yellow armband was firmly tied to his arm.
In the stadium, the cheers that had just stopped sounded again.
After Smith came on the court, he informed the other players of George Lee's latest instructions, and all the players nodded.
Leeds United, who returned to 11 men, began to attack fiercely.
In the 63rd minute of the game, Leeds United launched a counterattack. Milner took the lead, breaking through Blackburn's left defense and entering the opponent's half.
Then facing the defense, he passed the ball to Smith in the middle.
Smith stopped the ball briefly, then pushed with the outside of his right foot and passed a through ball to Andy Gray, who successfully countered offside.
Finally, after receiving the ball, Gray faced the attacking Blackburn goalkeeper Friedel alone and calmly pushed the ball home.
2 to 1.
The 28-year-old Gray has been wandering for nearly 10 years after leaving Leeds United. This time he finally seized the opportunity and scored his first goal for his home club.
After scoring the goal, Gray ran to the corner, knelt down and covered his face with his hands.
At this moment, Andy Gray, the kid from Thorpe Arch, he's back.
Leeds United fans burst into thunderous applause in tribute to their boy, Andy Gray.
At the same time, this applause is also dedicated to the team's director of football Eddie Gray, youth training director Frank Gray, youth training coach Stuart Gray, and scout Nick Gray who is currently watching other teams' games in London.
The whole family has given so much to Leeds United.
The fans also thanked the team's head coach. It was he who recalled the children who used to play at Thorpe Arch to Elland Road. It was he who brought Leeds United back on track.
Smith stepped forward, pulled up Gray who was kneeling on the ground, gestured for him to thank the fans, and then quickly returned to the game.
Seeing Smith's performance, George Li couldn't help but feel even more pleased.
"He's becoming more like a captain."
In the 68th minute of the game, Milner was fouled and tackled to the ground by a Blackburn defender near the baseline. The ball rolled out of the baseline and the referee gave a corner kick.
Milner kept chasing the referee, indicating that it was a foul.
Just when Milner raised his voice and was almost shouting at the referee, and the referee had already lost his patience, he put one hand in his pocket.
Smith pulled Milner away and pointed into the penalty area.
"You go to the penalty area and prepare to attack. Don't talk nonsense here!"
Faced with Big Brother's reprimand, Milner could only obediently go to the penalty area.
Then Leeds United took a corner kick from Pedersen. After a scuffle in the penalty area, Milner almost scored the ball, but it was just slightly higher than the crossbar.
In the process of retreating, Smith took the initiative to find Milner, touched his head and praised his performance just now. The slight displeasure of Milner, who had just been scolded by Smith, immediately disappeared without a trace.
"He's becoming more like a captain."
This time, it was Brian Kidd who was next to George Lee who spoke.
However, if Smith's captaincy debut ends like this today, it will certainly not be perfect.
In the 82nd minute of the game, Smith received a cross from Kelly on the right side.
Kelly went directly to the back of the ball for this ball, so Smith, who appeared there at that time, was already unguarded.
The ball was already half-high when it reached Smith. Normally, Smith would hit it with his head and go in, but Smith hesitated for a moment. After all, he still had an injury on his head, so he could choose to use his feet.
I saw Smith use his left foot, which he doesn't usually use, to volley sideways and hit the ball into the door behind Friedel.
3 to 1.
The subsequent games also lost their suspense, and Leeds United successfully advanced to the fourth round of the League Cup.
^^^
Then on the third day of training after the game, everyone was surprised again by Smith.
"What are you doing, what are you doing, what are you doing around here?"
Team coach John Sheridan walked into the training ground locker room and urged the players to start training. Then he saw the crowd dispersing and was startled.
"Who the hell is this... Is it Alan? Why did you change your hairstyle like this?"
"The doctor said this will facilitate the wound healing and make it easier to check next time."
Smith, who has short blond hair, smiled slightly.
