Chapter 84: Successful Training Amid Injuries
“In the long league competition, we have always valued the team’s stable performance, and in this regard, I think we have achieved success today.

35% of the ball possession rate can only mean that we have made concessions in the midfield competition, but the situation of the game is not entirely biased towards Manchester City.

The data of 7 shots and 5 shots on target also shows that we did not give up the opportunity to counterattack, but today we were more focused on finishing efficiency.

It’s a pity that we didn’t score a goal, but we did a great job on the defensive end and also limited Manchester City’s offensive performance.

And I also believe that this draw will bring us more advantages in the championship race…”

In the post-match press interview, Li Chen gave firm and positive responses to many reporters’ probing questions.

Manchester City players, who have always disliked their opponents using a bus formation, did not have the energy to accept interviews today to criticize Newcastle’s tactical arrangements.

In terms of attacking opportunities, they did have them, but they were just a little short of breaking through Newcastle’s midfield defense.

Moreover, Newcastle did not just defend stubbornly today.

In today’s tactical arrangement, Li Chen placed more emphasis on defensive stability and resilience.

But he did not give up on counterattacking Manchester City. Newcastle pressed forward when they should have. Manchester City could also try to counterattack Newcastle at this time, right?
To put it bluntly, the gap in the upper limits of strength between the two teams is too small. Both teams want to play it safe and are unwilling to take too many risks, so the offensive opportunities obtained by both sides are about the same.

Manchester City failed to seize these attacking opportunities, and neither did Newcastle. A draw was a very fair result for both teams.

Guardiola didn’t say much, but just expressed some regret for not being able to win against Newcastle in today’s game.

A bunch of reporters misinterpreted Guardiola’s meaning and tried to break Li Chen’s defense, but ended up being confronted head-on by Li Chen who was not fooled.

After this battle, Newcastle, with two games less, continued to top the Premier League standings.

Manchester City, who got one point, was overtaken again by Arsenal, who finished the game later.

Arsenal, who have completed the seventh round of league make-up matches, are now 7 points ahead of Manchester City and 3 points behind Newcastle, which has two games less.

Moreover, Arsenal has just won four consecutive games in the league recently and is in good form, so many media are optimistic that they will continue to put pressure on Newcastle in the subsequent battle for the league title.

But now Newcastle supporters have become accustomed to Arsenal and Manchester City taking turns to sit in second place in the league and catch up with their own team.

They also have a thorough understanding of the “fierce” championship battle publicized by the media.

Let’s wait until Newcastle finishes two rounds of make-up matches and Arsenal or Manchester City can narrow the points gap to within 6 points before we talk about overtaking!
Before that, no matter how loud the boasting is, it is just bluffing.

Newcastle has already lost two rounds of the league, but Arsenal and Manchester City are still getting further and further behind. I don’t know where the competition is so fierce.

But I don’t know if it’s because Newcastle or Li Chen’s game work has been going too smoothly recently, God just likes to make trouble at times like this.

It was a rare opportunity to have a rest period of more than a week, and Li Chen squeezed out the preparation time to give the players two days off.

As a result, as soon as the holiday was over, Madison and Guimarães in the main lineup were both admitted to the hospital due to viral colds.

Li Chen, who did not dare to take the risk of sending the entire team to the hospital, decisively approved leave for the two of them, asking them to rest well and wait until they were completely recovered before reporting to the training base.

The lack of two main players would not be a fatal impact for Newcastle, which already has sufficient bench depth.

But then Pepe and Trippier suffered muscle injuries on the training ground, which made Li Chen a little puzzled.

Seeing that the 27th round of the league against Wolves was approaching, Li Chen had no choice but to make major changes to the starting lineup and at the same time had a private heart-to-heart talk with Ronaldo.

“Want to take a break, Chris?”

“Me? Not for now. I feel fine with my body.”

“Yes, the team doctor also said that there is nothing wrong with your body, but the fatigue of your muscles has accumulated to the point where you need more rest.”

“How about letting me play a few more league games? I think…”

“Come on, brother, don’t make up other excuses in front of me. I know what you think and I always support you, but this time, I’m serious, you have to try to stop and maintain your state.

The Manchester City kid has already scored 30 league goals. He is destined to break the Premier League goal record this season. Instead of forcing himself to catch up, it is better to let go of this obsession and take a good rest.

Besides, you’ve won countless Golden Boots, what’s the point of this one to prove yourself? Machines also need to rest and cool down, and you need it too.”

Li Chen’s words left Ronaldo with no reason to refute.

If it were this time last year, he would definitely fight Li Chen to the end and use a Premier League Golden Boot to continue to prove himself to the media who had previously looked down on him.

But now he has indeed entered the stage of “enjoying the game”.

He won the Golden Boot in his first season after returning to the Premier League and also played well in the Champions League.

In the second season, they were on the verge of winning the Premier League title again.

He is almost 38 years old, but he can still play as a starter in a championship-winning team and enjoy unlimited shooting rights. What else does he need to prove?

Talented people emerge in every generation.

Even if there is no super shooter like Haaland in the Premier League this year, other major teams should also introduce players of this level next year.

Does he have to continue competing with these young successors until he is 40 years old?

Perhaps, we should really consider reducing the number of league appearances in order to maintain our form for international competitions.

This will also give the younger players in the team more opportunities to play.

After convincing himself, Ronaldo finally let go of his obsession and nodded to Li Chen.

Li Chen also revealed his true colors to Ronaldo, saying that he will have to start in the tough league and FA Cup matches later in this season.

Reducing his burden does not mean to let him become a substitute directly. Newcastle’s rise is inseparable from the backbone contributions of him and several old brothers.

By next season, Ronaldo, who will have more rest time, will still be the sharpest weapon in Li Chen’s hands.

He doesn’t need to start and waste his energy in ordinary league and domestic cup matches, so he can devote more energy to the Champions League.

After reaching an agreement with Ronaldo, Li Chen put him on the bench and then formulated a slightly “bold” starting lineup. So much so that when the news that Ronaldo might be a substitute was leaked, most media reporters and the Wolves coaching staff did not take the news seriously.

What a joke, Ronaldo is now the top scorer of Newcastle, and his number of goals in the Premier League this season is second only to Haaland and Harry Kane.

If there is no injury problem, would Li Chen be willing to let Ronaldo take a rest as a substitute?
Wolves head coach Lopetegui joked at the pre-match press conference that he would never be fooled, insisting that the news of Ronaldo’s substitution was a tactical smokescreen.

So when Newcastle’s starting lineup was actually announced on the day of the game, everyone who got the first-hand information was dumbfounded.

Li Chen actually put Ronaldo on the bench!

So who will Newcastle, who is now facing a wave of injuries, rely on to carry the offensive banner?

Is it Havertz, whose goal efficiency is slightly average, or Wilson, the king of substitutes?
The confused fans turned their attention to Newcastle’s new starting lineup.

The Wolves players, who were originally under great pressure playing away from home, were pleasantly surprised to see hope of winning.

At 3:12 London time on March 16, Newcastle and Wolves, who were at home, started a battle at St. James’ Park.

Newcastle, who played a 352 formation, launched an active offensive in the opening stages of the game relying on their midfield advantage, while Wolves took advantage of the situation to shrink their front line and launch a counterattack.

With Grimaldo and Elanga advancing smoothly on both wings, Newcastle’s frequent crosses allowed Chris Wood to find the feeling of scoring first.

However, the offensive tactics arranged by Li Chen would definitely not be that simple.

Chris Wood’s strong ability in heading the ball forced Wolves to tighten their defense in the penalty area.

As the area for penetrating the edge of the penalty area becomes larger, Havertz, who is lurking behind Chris Wood, has more opportunities to perform.

In the eleventh minute of the first half, Havertz received a pass from Grimaldo on the right side of the Wolves penalty area and shot directly!
However, this shot was too focused on the angle and the speed of the ball was not fast enough, and was eventually saved by Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa!
Two minutes later, Newcastle made a comeback after their corner attack was disrupted by Wolves center back Dawson.

However, this time it was Elanga who successfully received Ward-Prowse’s pass and then made a reverse triangle pass to help Havertz get another shooting opportunity.

Havertz, who quickly connected the shot, still played very resolutely, but his powerful shot aimed at the top of the near corner was saved by Jose Sa who guessed the direction of the shot.

The focused Jose Sa made a series of wonderful saves.

But he was not happy at all at this moment. Instead, he yelled at his teammates in dissatisfaction, asking them not to give Havertz such space to shoot calmly.

Havertz slapped his forehead in annoyance, obviously not satisfied with both shots.

However, Li Chen on the sidelines clapped his hands vigorously, encouraging him to continue this performance.

Any fan who knew Havertz before could see the improvement in Havertz’s shot selection and shooting skills in Newcastle’s two attacks.

Not only are his shots much faster than before, but his improvement in shooting is also visible to the naked eye.

These are solid improvements that have been achieved through patient hard training for most of the season.

The zone-based and classified shooting exercises are actually very boring, and Ronaldo is not a very qualified teacher.

Because in Ronaldo’s view, the connecting shots in many areas during training are the goals that must be scored, and Havertz’s slow progress in training has made him feel confused many times.

In other words, Li Chen always guides Havertz in time, allowing this kid to focus more on his own progress rather than comparing with Ronaldo.

Otherwise, Havertz would have been led astray by Ronaldo and would have fallen into a vicious circle of doubting his own talent.

But there is one thing Ronaldo did very well, that is, as long as Havertz is willing to practice more, he is willing to coach.

It is true that Ronaldo dislikes Havertz’s slow improvement in shooting skills, and it is also true that he patiently guides Havertz to help him.

And with all the critical guidance from Ronaldo and the encouragement from Li Chen, Havertz has insisted on practicing his shooting skills until now.

He himself may still feel that his shooting skills have not improved much, but in fact, his progress is enough to surprise the fans who follow him.

Before, he was supposed to be a supporting role for Ronaldo, and he didn’t get many shooting opportunities in a game.

Today, he was given an important task by Li Chen. His first two shooting attempts were eye-catching and enough to make Wolves feel the threat of his shots.

Lopetegui did not get stubborn and quickly made tactical adjustments, asking midfielder Leminado to move inside to provide defense and limit Havertz’s performance.

After slightly stabilizing their defense, Wolves turned their energy to quick counterattacks.

The return of Adama Traore has greatly strengthened Wolves’ counterattack threat on the right.

But today he ran into Van der Ven, who started as left center back, and it was really a hitch.

Absolute speed is no advantage!

At most, Van der Ven lost a little at the start, but his acceleration in the later stages was no weaker than Traore.

Due to his height and center of gravity, Van der Ven may be at a disadvantage when facing flexible and technical wingers.

But Traore is also not flexible enough and just likes to speed up and rush to the end along one road.

Well, this characteristic makes Van der Ven feel comfortable when playing.

In the 24th minute of the first half, Van der Ven, who had intercepted the ball from Traore, confidently turned defense into offense, dribbling the ball forward from the backcourt!
Not to mention the Wolves’ defensive players, even many of Newcastle’s midfielders and frontcourt players failed to react!

Grimaldo was still raising his hand to ask for the ball, but Van der Ven had already taken the ball and rushed into the Wolves’ defense.

Joelinton was smart enough to move inwards quickly and help Van der Ven take away a Wolves defender.

But Van der Ven, still facing a three-man double-team from the Wolves, was not afraid at all and suddenly dribbled the ball and accelerated!
Semedo stumbled and failed to keep up, and was left two or three body lengths behind by Van der Ven with his long legs.

Before the football rolled out of the baseline, Van der Ven tried his best to catch up and adjusted his steps to send a low cross pass!
The football rolled quickly through the middle of the penalty area. Chris Wood, who was following up, and Dawson, who was returning to defense, were too far away from the ball and had no time to reach it.

It was not until the ball rolled towards the back of the Wolves’ penalty area that a black and white figure who had barely got into position completed the shot!
This time, Josesa could only watch helplessly as the ball crossed the line and went into the net.

Havertz, who completed his third shot in the game, was finally able to run contentedly to the end line to start his personal celebration!
Newcastle’s young players stepped up despite a wave of injuries to the team.

Li Chen also used his raised arms and cheering figure to prove to the world that his bold training plan had achieved initial success!
(End of this chapter)