Chapter 92 Make Newcastle Great Again

“Here it comes, Newcastle’s most typical quick rotation attack this season!
Southampton was ultimately unable to withstand Newcastle’s powerful attack. We also want to congratulate Maddison, who got his 14th assist in the league this season, surpassing De Bruyne once again.”

“Yes, maybe the battle for the Premier League’s top scorer this season has ended early, but the competition for the Premier League’s top assists is still going on. We also look forward to these two top passers bringing us more exciting performances in the remaining games…”

Maddison celebrated excitedly with Trippier near the baseline.

Obviously, he himself knew the importance of this assist.

For an attacking midfielder, the importance of being able to top the league assists list of the season is self-evident.

After celebrating passionately with Carrick on the sidelines, Li Chen also clapped his hands vigorously towards the players on the field, signaling them not to relax and to continue to maintain offensive pressure on Southampton.

After the game resumed, the Newcastle team continued to strengthen their attacks on both wings, and Madison became more active in running in the frontcourt.

However, his next two risky vertical passes failed to penetrate Southampton’s defense.

The other Newcastle offensive players didn’t say much and expressed their understanding of Madison’s excitement at the moment.

Fortunately, Madison is not as emotional as B Fee after all.

The successive losses of the ball quickly woke Madison up.

Before Li Chen could remind him to keep his composure, he sat firmly in the middle again and patiently organized the team’s offensive.

His calm control of the game also meant that Southampton’s subsequent counterattacks ultimately came to nothing.

Southampton, who failed to counterattack, were quickly pushed back into the half by Newcastle.

Compared to the busy and anxious Southampton coaching staff, Newcastle’s coaches seemed much calmer and more steady.

Li Chen had no intention of changing his offensive tactics.

He kept his composure, so the Newcastle players on the field would naturally be more determined to carry out the two-wing flying tactics to the end.

Fortunately, Ronaldo and Havertz were both in pretty good shape in front of the goal today, and they got a lot of shooting opportunities thanks to frequent passes from their teammates.

The more the two performed, the less likely Southampton’s defense would dare to act rashly.

But as the old saying goes, the more you fear something, the more likely it will come to you.

In the 36th minute of the first half, Ronaldo pulled out of the penalty area and received a cross from Joelinton and fired a long shot, which flew dramatically into the Southampton goal after being refracted!

Cristiano Ronaldo himself didn’t expect that he could score this goal. After all, he just wanted to try it out and continue to find the feeling of shooting.

In this relaxed state of mind, the long-range shots he kicked were not threatening enough.

Southampton goalkeeper McCarthy also thought he could keep Ronaldo’s shot out.

But the central defender Belacosa who was blocking in front of him tried his best to kick the ball.

It was his interception error that led to Ronaldo’s long-range shot that successfully changed the score.

The entire Newcastle team accepted this pleasant surprise, and the young Belarusian player paid the expensive tuition for experience with the comfort of his teammates.

But to be honest, not many fans would blame him for doing something bad with good intentions. After all, he just turned 21 not long ago and the ceiling of his ability is there.

In the end, Newcastle entered the halftime break with a score of 2-0.

Li Chen was quite satisfied with the score of this half. The only regret was that the goal just now was not counted as an own goal by Ronaldo, but was counted as an own goal by Beracosa.

The official statistical judgment made the Portuguese superstar very unhappy.

Li Chen saw this and struck while the iron was hot. During the halftime break, he praised Ronaldo a few more times and then made it clear that he would not substitute him before the end of the game.

After getting Li Chen’s promise, Ronaldo felt at ease. As soon as the second half of the game started, he actively participated in the siege and pressing in the frontcourt.

Southampton, who did not want to surrender early, was still actively looking for a way out, but most of their attempts to pass the ball forward failed to turn into counterattack opportunities.

Southampton head coach Seles fielded two young players in their early 20s on the front line today.

This type of young players are brave and good at running, and are indeed good at counterattacks.

But between the two of them there is no mature enough finisher to convert the chances they create into reliable shots.

Whenever he had a chance to run, he would either lose the ball or be blocked into a dead end on the wing by Newcastle’s experienced defenders.

Ramos didn’t care that the people he was defending today were just two rookies, and his methods on the defensive end were extremely “cruel”.

In the second half, the Sky Sports commentator couldn’t help but make a few excuses for the two young Southampton forwards who were repeatedly forced to take advantage of Ramos and lost the ball.

All in all, Southampton now has too many problems with the entire team, including the management.

It is unfair to single out the coach or some young players in the team for not doing their job well when there are problems with the entire team structure.

Previously, many fans believed that if Newcastle had not poached Ward-Prowse from Southampton at the beginning of this season, the Saints would have been able to struggle a bit and would not have fallen to the last place in the league so early.

But now after watching this game, they have to admit that the Southampton team that once created a youth storm in the Premier League has completely disappeared.

They reached a critical moment where they had to rebuild and had to go through the ordeal of relegation.

One Ward-Prowse can’t save Southampton.

On the contrary, Southampton’s top management’s decision to sell Ward-Prowse for money at the beginning of the season actually saved the loyal midfielder.

If he had not transferred to Newcastle at the beginning of the season, Ward-Prowse would have had no chance of being selected for the England national team again and winning the World Cup with the team.

Not to mention that he can now continue to compete for the Premier League title with Newcastle.

The live camera was very interesting and turned to Ward-Prowse who was sitting on the bench at the moment.

The former Southampton captain made no effort to hide his poor mood.

For his personal future development, leaving Southampton and coming to Newcastle is undoubtedly a great success and an important turning point in his career.

But from a personal perspective, he really didn’t want to leave his home team if the top management hadn’t abandoned him.

Even if he has to fight for relegation now, he is happy to do it.

Unfortunately, Southampton’s financial situation did not improve after selling him, and now they have even locked in a relegation spot in advance. This also made him very upset and disappointed, and he didn’t want to pretend in front of the camera at all.

Commentators from various countries saw this and lamented that it was not easy for Southampton to avoid relegation in recent seasons.

Originally, Hasenhüttl could lead the team to avoid relegation. It would be ok if the results did not improve every season, but at least there would be no need to worry about relegation.

Now, the muscular tactical style of play built up by Hasenhuttl is gone, and Southampton’s results have not improved at all. Instead, they have fallen further into the abyss.

The greedy Southampton executives received their punishment.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Grimaldo’s successive goals ended the remaining suspense of the game in the 73rd minute of the second half.

4-0, Newcastle won another big victory at home!
With the victory in this game, Newcastle continues to sit firmly at the top of the Premier League standings.

With two games less, Newcastle has a record of 26 wins and 5 draws, and currently leads the standings with 83 points.

Arsenal has completed all the make-up matches and currently ranks second in the league standings with 25 wins, 5 draws and 3 losses and 80 points.

Manchester City, in third place, has the same two make-up matches to play as Southampton. It currently has a record of 24 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses, with 76 points.

At first glance, the points gap between the three championship teams has not widened completely.

Although Newcastle still has two make-up games to play, theoretically they have the possibility of completely leaving the two competing teams behind.

But considering that their opponents in the make-up matches are Tottenham and Brighton, the probability of failure is much higher than Manchester City, which will face West Ham United and Leeds United in the make-up matches.

So until now, Arsenal and Manchester City supporters have been relatively patient, waiting for Newcastle to stumble in the next make-up match.

But for Newcastle, especially for Li Chen, Tottenham and Brighton are no longer the same as at the beginning of the season.

The threat posed by these two teams is far less than before, whether it is the morale of the entire team or the tactical arrangements, the two teams that have lost their soul coaches are far behind.

Of course, there is still a threat, but the threat from the top four and top eight opponents in the league cannot be compared.

Li Chen will not regard the two opponents in the make-up match as a huge threat to the team’s championship this season, and the main players in Newcastle are even more confident.

Three days later, Newcastle went to challenge Everton away and won 3-0, once again announcing to the outside world their hot form in the sprint stage.

Everton manager Dyche does not want to surrender at his home ground.

He used up all five substitutions in this game, replacing almost all the starting frontcourt offensive players.

However, Everton, who used two completely different offensive styles in the first and second half, did not pose much threat to Newcastle.

A counterattack goal and two goals from set-piece opportunities allowed Newcastle to firmly grasp the victory.

And today, Gvardiol, who stepped up and performed amazingly on both offense and defense, once again won collective praise from the British media.

During the media interview after the game, Li Chen was generous in giving praise and affirmation to Gvardiol.

“I told you this kid is strong, but you didn’t believe me at the beginning of the season. Now he has shown his potential. The transfer window in the summer will increase his value by at least another 30 million…”

When the reporters at the scene heard Li Chen say this, they subconsciously wanted to refute it, but after thinking about it carefully, they realized that there was nothing wrong with what Li Chen said.

Gvardiol, who has just turned 21, has now secured his place as a mainstay in Newcastle’s defence.

When the two veteran players Ramos and Pepe are not on the court, he is the only defensive core chosen by Li Chen.

He is mature beyond his years and has top-notch abilities. He can play as a double center back, a triple center back, and even play as a wing on both sides.

There is no other example like this in today’s football world. There is only one such example.

Given the abilities and huge potential that Gvardiol has shown this season, it is reasonable that his market value is approaching 90 million.

Li Chen, who helped Gvadior to become a big hit in front of the reporters, was able to shake off the reporters’ pursuit and blockade.

However, during the subsequent offseason, he had no intention of getting closer to the big star Dua Lipa, with whom he had chatted from time to time in recent days.

It’s not that he has any prejudice against these European and American female stars and doesn’t want to seize the opportunity to get close to them.

This is because Newcastle is about to face the most important “test” in the final stage of the league.

On the afternoon of May 5th, Newcastle will face Arsenal at home.

This is not only a great opportunity for Newcastle to get rid of Arsenal, but also Arsenal’s last hope for a comeback.

Neither team had any reason to retreat, so a fierce battle was inevitable.

As for whether Manchester City will benefit from this match in which they are directly confronting each other, that is another matter.

Arteta, who has led Arsenal’s resurgence, has become more and more “flat-headed” in his speech at this critical stage.

He always leads the team to fight with all their strength, even if they fight with Newcastle until they run out of ammunition and food and both sides suffer losses, they have no intention of retreating.

But for Li Chen, this battle with Arsenal is certainly important, but it is far from exhausting the team’s overall physical reserves.

So when facing reporters’ interviews before the game, his wording seemed much calmer.

“We will certainly try our best, but losing or drawing is not the end of the world for Newcastle now, because we have enough margin for error.

Arteta has the right to express his opinions and emotions, and I understand that, but I will never accept the appearance of lethal foul tactics on the field.

This is what I am worried about. Of course, I believe that the Arsenal team will not do anything that damages the dignity of the club and the personality of the players…”

Li Chen’s flattering and critical words made Arteta feel somewhat helpless.

He originally wanted to release a tactical smoke bomb to scare the Newcastle players on the field, but he didn’t expect to be trapped by Li Chen in the end.

There was no other way, Arteta could only hold his nose and say that they would never maliciously hurt anyone in the game.

The two teams completed a silent public opinion confrontation before the game.

On the morning of the match, Newcastle’s official Twitter account quietly released a pre-designed promotional image for the match and a powerful slogan:

“Today, let’s make Newcastle United great again!”

(End of this chapter)