Chapter 44: The Problem of Substitutions and the Time Bomb

With Cristiano Ronaldo's powerful long-range shot from 30 meters away from the goal in the 40th minute of the first half, Portugal ended the first half with a 3-0 lead over Latvia. It was almost a winning scoreline, and the second half was no longer moot. And it is precisely because of this that at the beginning of the second half, Deco, Ronaldo and Lao Lei were replaced by Scolari one after another.

In this regard, Scolari had already explained to the three in the dressing room at half-time, "I don't want your heads to call me and yell at me, I have a lot of work to do, but I don't have time to pay attention to their complaints and anger." 'Obviously, Rijkaard, Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho have spoken to Scolari in private, and they have made an agreement. The head coach of the club and the head coach of the national team are like a pair of natural enemies, who can only compromise but cannot reconcile.

The fate of Lao Lei and the three of them had no impact except for reducing the enjoyment of the game and making the fans on the scene dissatisfied. Latvia also did not launch a thrilling Jedi counterattack after the three were gone. The second half of the game was calm and normal, and it went strictly on the set track that people expected. However, although there is no suspense about the victory or defeat, the scene is still exciting. After Lao Lei and them left, the gap in strength between the two sides was not so obvious. Although there are not so many pleasing pictures, the back and forth of the attack scene still comforted the fans who came to watch the game.

The match ended with a score of 3:1, with Portugal getting their first three points of the World Cup qualifiers in Germany and getting off to a good start. In the 78th minute of the second half. Latvia scored from a corner with a header from their starting striker, Kolesnisenko. Saved face on his home turf. Perhaps Latvia itself has a dispensable mentality about this game. So after the referee blew the whistle for the end of the game, their players didn't look so down. Some of these players even wore the same smiles as fans, and found Lao Lei and Ronaldo to exchange shirts, as if they had just lost an inconsequential warm-up game, a friendly match.

Looking at the smiling Latvian players in front of him, Lao Lei felt a little unhappy. Thinking that if these were his teammates, it is estimated that he would have walked over at this time and scolded him angrily, and even made a move. In this regard, Lao Lei has never denied his paranoia. But. Luckily, these weren't his teammates either, so he didn't care, shook his head, and let it go.

Of course, after the game, the media almost unanimously threw all the words of praise that could be thought of on Portugal, what "one of the strongest teams at the moment", "the biggest favorite to win the World Cup". "Perfect artistic football" and the like, it is almost a direct award of the Hercules Cup to Portugal in advance. Among them, Lao Lei's corner kick directly broke the goal, which attracted great attention. The number of video hits on the Internet soared like a rocket, and he attracted a lot of fans. According to Mendes' message to Lao Lei, Nike is already considering whether to create a new shoe for him. Although Lao Lei doesn't think it is necessary to have his own sneakers. But he is still very happy in his heart, because this is the treatment that belongs exclusively to superstars. Enjoying privileges is always exciting.

When Ray and Ferreira left the national team and returned to London. The 13th round of the Premier League will start tomorrow. Considering the continuous travel and busy schedule of Lao Lei's several people, Mourinho is a special trio who only need to stay in London and do not need to report to the team immediately, so that they can have a good rest. In this round of the league, Chelsea are going to take on Fulham away. Thankfully, this is also a London side and Chelsea, who have just passed the devil's schedule, don't need to travel any longer.

In the absence of the likes of Lao Lei and others, Chelsea eventually won 3-1 against Fulham at Crawen Farm. However, the process of the game was not as easy as the final score was shown. The absence of three people such as Lao Lei has had a huge impact on Chelsea. Not only at the back, but also offensively.

Just eight minutes into the game, Fulham had a corner chance to head home from their starting striker Elm. After that, Fulham retreated across the board, and their intention was obvious, to hold on to the lead of this goal, and then fight for three points to keep one. Although Chelsea are rightfully superior in terms of strength, Chelsea's attack has encountered great obstacles in the face of Fulham's dense defensive line that has been recycled across the board.

In the absence of Lao Lei's central control, Chelsea's attack no longer seems so mercury-tricked, pervasive, and not as good as the previous games in terms of delicate Cheng Dù. There is no doubt that Frank Lampard is also a world-class midfielder, but his playmaking skills are not as good as those of the elder Ray. In terms of organization, he is more rough and simple than Lao Leilai, lacking a sense of calmness and calmness, and everything is in my control. If Chelsea are playing defensive counter-attacks, then Frank Lampard will not have much of a problem in replacing the heart of the old Rays, but when faced with the world's problems such as dense defences, then he is a little less sure.

In addition, Chelsea's lineup on the field at this time is more suitable for defensive counter-attacks, and Duff and Robben and others are resting in rotation, which is even more difficult. Fulham's dense defence appeared to be very successful, and they made Chelsea's attacking look thunderous, rainy and intimidating. Instead, it was their counter-attack, which was impressive, forcing him to make saves on several occasions and testing the Chelsea door.

Such a scorching deadlock was not broken until the 61st minute of the second half. Didier Drogba, who replaced Gudjohnson, helped Chelsea to a hard-fought equaliser after receiving a pinpoint Frank Lampard's pinpoint corner and carrying the Fulham defender's head. And it was like a switch, finally opening up Chelsea's goalscoring sensations. Six minutes later, Kezman fired a low shot into the lead after causing a Fulham defender to mismatch a return pass in the box. When Fulham had to press out for a final comeback. In the 81st minute of the second half, Chelsea played a successful counter-attack. Frank Lampard struck a single blow to seal the win.

That's it. Chelsea managed to secure the three points again, albeit with some twists and turns. However, Mourinho expressed his dissatisfaction with his players after the game, saying at a press conference: "Although the game ended up winning, I am not completely satisfied with the players' performance. In the absence of Reima, their performance in the first half was simply terrible. I know the absence of these key players has caused Chelsea a lot of problems, but they have to understand that not being a regular is not the reason. I picked them. They were just as good, but they weren't ready, so I'm not satisfied. ”

Although after the game, some people said that Mourinho was just showing off his victory. However, anyone with a discerning eye should be able to see that Chelsea do have such problems. That is, after a series of brilliant results by Chelsea's main players, their substitutions have been neglected, and even they themselves have neglected themselves, and there have been problems in mentality and emotion. This made them mentally unprepared in the first place after they suddenly got the opportunity to play. The first half of this game. That's one of the big reasons why Chelsea are playing so hard.

Although, the outside world has not yet hyped up, but this substitution problem. There has been concern within Chelsea. After all, who knows what will happen when the season is interrupted, and if there is a problem with the main team, Chelsea will have to rely on these substitutes. It's like changing a tire in a car race. Even spare tires will be best maintained. The goal is to keep them in top shape and performance. Jose Mourinho began to think about whether he wanted to be more flexible in his squad rotation. Although there is still some time before the scary Christmas schedule. But Mourinho has already started to think ahead.

The fourth round of the Carabao Cup is about to begin, and in this game, Mourinho is starting to consider starting with an all-substitute line-up. The League Cup is just a chicken rib in his eyes, just to find the strength of the substitute players. After carefully considering the decision, he made the announcement within the team two days in advance. Although Mourinho's personality is very strong, he has his own unique delicate side in these aspects. And this is the main reason why he can control the team's locker room, and the best way to lead a team is to be able to lead a team.

His decision was supported by the whole team in the dressing room. Because with the agreement of the old Ray, Lampard and John Terry, even if the other players have an opinion in their hearts, it is not a big problem. However, no one noticed that in the corner of the locker room, Gala was looking at Old Ray with unfriendly dark eyes.

Looking at Lao Lei's leadership posture in the locker room, the arrogant French defender inexplicably rose a trace of jealousy in his heart.

Gala's ability is unquestionable, but his psychology is a big problem. In his heart, there is a deep-rooted character trait that is self-centered in everything, and in layman's terms, arrogance and selfishness.

He has always believed that he should be the type of player like Keane and Vieira, and should be the leader and leader of a team. But in fact, he does not have this kind of character charm and courage, but the saddest thing is that he himself does not know this, and he is also ambitious, but not capable enough.

At Chelsea, with two homegrown players, John Terry and Frank Lampard, his aim is unrealistic. It was not at Arsenal that the French gang was the biggest, Vieira and Thierry Henry's savings made the problem no longer a problem.

The problem is that Galla doesn't have the same influence and status as Vieira at Chelsea. So he could only hide this idea deep in his heart and didn't reveal it.

But Lao Lei's storage zài has re-excavated this problem in his heart. Looking at Lao Lei, who is much younger than himself, constantly "giving orders" in the locker room, with a master's attitude, the seeds of jealousy have been planted in his heart, and they are slowly taking root.

It's like a ticking time bomb in the Chelsea dressing room, it's just that no one has noticed yet.

No one knows what impact he will have on Ray and Chelsea if he explodes. (To be continued......)