I just wanted to play football, but I became a Hollywood god

Chapter 375 The super demon star shines in the first British Championship!Coach Adkins’ substitution has an immediate impact!
On the day off, Gu Ran spent his time training quietly in the Sand Dune Villa.

But the transfer market outside has already turned upside down.

The end of the summer window is getting closer and closer, and major clubs have only one last chance to make an offer.

Whether you can get this year's super demon star depends on these few days.

Various media newspapers have also focused on Gu Ran's transfer news - of course there are exceptions. For example, "The Sun" is still serializing the stories that Gu Ran, Sister NO and Linda have to tell, and "The Sun" Sales volume also increased compared with 1 month ago.

In the transfer market, Manchester United was the first to make an offer for the super star Gu Ran. This was also their first offer for Gu Ran: 1200 million pounds, plus 30% of the proceeds from secondary sales.

It was just smoke bombs and price hikes before, but this time it is Manchester United's real offer.

For Manchester United, being able to make such an offer shows great sincerity.

Coach Ferguson also gave an exclusive interview to The Times, expressing his love for Gu Ran and praising the Red Devils spirit embodied in Gu Ran.

The second one to give the final offer during the summer window was Liverpool Club. Liverpool Club has actually invested a large amount of transfer funds in the transfer of other star players, and the transfer funds in hand are not large enough. Make a high offer to Gu Ran.

However, the female boss Linda often called and texted Gu Ran in private. Through this communication, the smart Linda realized very keenly that Gu Ran had no intention of transferring and leaving Southampton in the past year. .

Gu Ran will neither transfer to Liverpool nor any other club.

Therefore, Linda made a bold offer, even though Liverpool Club could not actually afford the money.

Although this approach is a bit of a bluff, it can at least keep Liverpool's interest in pursuing Gu Ran.

Liverpool's transfer offer for Gu Ran is 1600 million pounds, plus additional game performance, the total contract value is up to 2000 million pounds.

Such transfer conditions also appear to be full of sincerity.

However, in comparison, Manchester City was much more direct. Manchester City offered 2200 million pounds in one breath, which was higher than Liverpool's bluffing offer.

Arsenal also proposed their final offer to Gu Ran - zero down payment, 1800 million pounds, monthly installments, and the possibility of arranging two friendly matches, with the proceeds from the friendly matches going entirely to Southampton Club.

Arsenal's head coach Wenger also accepted an interview with the "Guardian". In the interview, coach Wenger said that Arsenal is only a little bit away from signing the super star Gu Ran.

Chelsea also changed their previous cautious bidding status and directly offered a high price of 2000 million pounds, striving to capture Gu Ran in the last few days.

Faced with the offers from these giants, Southampton Club rejected them all.

Such news also makes Southampton fans very happy.

Over the years, Southampton Club has been operating as a black shop, selling stars in various ways. This year, faced with such high profits, Southampton finally held back!
This means that the championship is just around the corner!

On Tuesday, August 8st, the first knockout round of the Southern Division of the British Championship Pioneer Cup, Southampton's away game against Swindon City began!

Although the British Championship is not well-known in China, in the UK, the gold content of the British Championship is very high.

The participating teams are 24 English League One teams + 24 English League Two teams + 16 invited Premier League youth teams (under U23). The total 64 teams are divided into two divisions, North and South, with 8 teams in each division. Each group has 4 teams, and each group has at least one English League One, English League Two and Premier League youth team. They will conduct a single round-robin group stage - Southampton is the last champion, so it can directly enter the knockout rounds.

Unlike other cup competitions, if there is a draw in the knockout stage of the British Championship, there is no need for overtime, but a penalty shootout directly.

League One and League Two teams must have at least five first-team registered players starting each game, and Premier League youth teams must have at least six U5 players starting.

The total prize money is 195 million pounds, with an average win of 1 pounds per game, and the final winner wins 1 pounds.

Many young players in the Premier League regard the British Championship as a stepping stone for their own success, so they are very attentive to the British Championship.

Southampton’s opponent in this round is Swindon City, which is also a League One team.

As a well-known team in southern football, Swindon Town was also very strong in the early days and won the English League Cup in the 1968/69 season.

The Southampton team has never won the English League Cup or the top league championship. It only won the FA Cup in 1975 and the British Championship in 2009.

In comparison, Swindon City is currently ranked almost at the bottom of League One, and its overall strength is obviously weaker than Southampton.

Therefore, for the Southampton team, today's game is another game of strong against weak.

In this game, coach Adkins arranged a 442 formation to break through from the wing.

Lallana, Schneiderlin, Chamberlain, Gurley and other main players all started. However, Gu Ran, who was too brutal in the last game, was put on the bench by coach Adkins to watch the game.

Swindon City has sent their entire main lineup. After all, this is Swindon City’s home court and they must go all out.

Before the game, William Hill also gave a high handicap of 4.02 for home win, 3.79 for draw, and 1.84 for loss.

It can be seen that although Gu Ran did not start the game, the betting company is still very optimistic that the Southampton team, which has stronger morale, can win easily in the away game.

At the beginning of the game, after the two sides tested each other several times, Swindon City suddenly made a direct pass from the midfield area into Southampton's penalty area.

Swindon Town doesn't have any big-name players, but their basic skills are still very solid. Their tactics use direct passes to hit the area behind the defenders, and at the same time rely on forwards to accelerate and sprint diagonally, so as not to waste energy by entangled with Southampton in the midfield.

I have to say that this way of playing is very simple, but it hurts Southampton.

Southampton's defenders are old and young, and they can fight head-on. However, when faced with a sudden direct pass, they turned around and chased back too slowly.

Once beaten, Southampton's defense can be easily torn apart.

In order to beat the weak team Southampton, the wings and midfielders were pressed higher up. When the ball was passed directly behind them, the back line would be more dangerous.

If Southampton drags the back line back, the backcourt and frontcourt will easily become disconnected, and a strong midfielder will be needed to connect the backcourt and frontcourt.

But the problem is that Hammond cannot bear the heavy responsibility of the defensive midfielder - the defensive midfielder needs to constantly run without the ball, and Hammond either runs slowly or wrongly.

Coach Adkins has naturally seen this, but Coach Adkins still wants to see where the depth of Southampton's lineup is, and see if Southampton's players can crush Southampton with their personal abilities. Winden City.

After all, it is easy to make mistakes in direct passing cooperation. Therefore, theoretically, as long as there are more offsides and more pressure, it will be difficult for the weak team Swindon City to seize the opportunity.

In the 7th minute of the game, Swindon City relied on a direct pass, and their 18-year-old forward Danny Ward, who was on loan from Bolton Wanderers, ran out from behind to catch the ball, and then shot hard from the top of the arc - a football hit. The door frame bounced back, and Martin, who made timely replacement, cleared the ball out of the sideline. Southampton also escaped.

Having tasted the sweetness, Swindon City began to pass the ball frequently.

Southampton's backcourt was struggling to deal with it. There was an obvious disconnect between the midfield and the backfield. The defenders did not dare to attack at all. There was a large open area between the midfielder and the defenders.

Swindon City's two forwards stayed in the huge space between the defender and the midfielder, swimming back and forth, waiting for opportunities.

Lallana and other frontcourt stars struggled to get the ball while running around in the frontcourt, and the entire Southampton team was also in a bit of confusion because of Swindon City's seemingly simple direct pass tactic.

Fortunately, Swindon City's overall strength is not high enough, and many direct passes were wasted by themselves as coach Adkins expected - if it were a Premier League team, Southampton's defense would have been It was beaten into a sieve.

Southampton also had many opportunities to rewrite the game. Chamberlain was very active on the left, but today Swindon City's goalkeeper played bravely and saved at least three must-goals for Southampton in a row.

After all, Southampton's finishing ability in the midfield and frontcourt is still a bit poor.

Playing against such a weak team, Southampton's midfield and frontcourt were almost crazy. However, if they could not attack for a long time, the Southampton team's mentality began to become impatient.

Both sides made a lot of mistakes and fouls, and it was difficult for Southampton to play a smooth offensive cooperation.

This is not a big problem for Swindon City, whose playing style is simple and straightforward. They still adhere to the tactic of passing the ball straight whenever they have the opportunity, so basically as long as they get the ball, they can form Attack - although sometimes he will directly kick the ball out of the sideline.

The first half was relatively boring, and the big score that everyone thought did not happen.

In terms of ball possession rate, the Southampton team is naturally very high, but Swindon's direct passing style of play does not require much ball possession rate. On the contrary, several direct passing raids made Southampton very embarrassed.

In the injury time of the first half, Swindon Town's 24-year-old Irish youth team international Alan Sheehan suddenly passed the ball near the center line. The young player Danny Ward was in an offside position, but he still quickly flashed to A header in the penalty area!
The referee didn't blow the whistle!

Goalkeeper Davis made a hasty diving save...

This wave of attack was so sudden that Davis barely blocked it and failed to catch the ball. The ball bounced to Danny Ward's feet.

Danny Ward made a back-up shot!

There is nothing Davis can do!

The ball is in!
The referee gestured to the center circle, indicating that the goal was valid!

Southampton's players immediately gathered around the referee to appeal, but the referee ignored it and insisted on his decision.

The score on the big screen at the village stadium was immediately rewritten as Swindon City 1:0 Southampton.

Although the referee was blinded, Southampton's offside tactics still got him into trouble.

Coach Adkins's brow twisted into a knot.

After the intermission, the two sides came on stage again, changing sides and fighting again.

Swindon City still maintains a simple but effective direct pass and diagonal tactic.

After 15 minutes of rest and adjustment, Southampton players obviously still couldn't find the feeling, and they still played in a messy and disorganized manner.

As time goes by, if this continues, the defending champion will be ruthlessly eliminated in the first round.

Coach Adkins sighed and began to make substitutions.

Gu Ran came on and replaced Ryan Dixon, the left back who performed poorly.

Veteran vice-captain Walton came on the scene and replaced central defender Martin.

——The offensive situation was unfavorable, and Southampton replaced two defenders in one breath.Southampton's formation was also adjusted from the previous 2 formation to a 442 formation - three defenders, two wing-backs, two defensive midfielders, one attacking midfielder and two forwards.

Chamberlain and Schneiderlin are positioned as wing-backs on both wings, Lambert and Gu Ran are the defensive midfielders, Lallana is the attacking midfielder, and Gurley and Garrod are the forwards.

The positioning of the three defenders also consciously tightens the tightness between the defenders. The double midfielders are used to intercept Swindon City's forward movement, and the two wing-backs are responsible for connecting the through passes from the wing, Lara. Na is responsible for the midfield and frontcourt connection.

This change of formation, coupled with Gu Ran's appearance, had an immediate effect.

At the 57th minute of the second half -

Gu Ran carried away Swindon City's forward with a violent aesthetic sprint in the backcourt, easily intercepted Swindon City's through ball, and then drove the ball straight along the central axis.

Swindon City had almost zero control over the midfield. They did not struggle with Southampton in the midfield, but quickly returned to the penalty area to form a steel barrel defense.

In the first half, Swindon City also adopted this defensive strategy. Their intensive defense also gave Southampton's midfielders a headache.

Gu Ran dribbled the ball to the front of Swindon's penalty area without any obstruction.

Naturally, the Swindon team had also watched Gu Ran's short video, so when Gu Ran came to the front of the big metal, they immediately launched a targeted arc defense against Gu Ran.

Gu Ran was not in a hurry to pass the ball, but calmly dribbled the ball along the edge of the penalty area and made continuous passes.

After a set of cross cuts, Gu Ran easily tore a hole in Swindon City's arc defense line.

While Gu Ran was involved in Swindon City, Southampton's frontcourt players took the opportunity to penetrate into the penalty area.

Southampton's movement showed Premier League standards at this moment.

And it was obvious that Gu Ran was the catalyst.

Gu Ran dribbled the ball from the center to the left, saw the opportunity, and decisively passed the ball into the space in the penalty area.

Guli, who had already prepared to eat cake, grabbed some shots in front of the goal——

Swindon City goalkeeper David Lucas, a 33-year-old veteran, reacted half a beat too late!
The ball is in!
Gu Ran completed the assist within 2 minutes of his appearance!The score on the big screen was immediately rewritten as Swindon City 1:1 Southampton.

The Swindon Town players looked a bit frustrated.

Gu Ran easily connected Southampton's originally loose midfield and frontcourt.

And this is just the beginning.

Five minutes later, Swindon City made a pass from the left wing. Gu Ran predicted it in advance and used the impact of his body to hold the Swindon City forward player who received the ball, and then passed the ball to Chamberlain.

Chamberlain immediately took the ball and pushed it along the wing!

Chamberlain was very fast, but Gu Ran was even faster without the ball. In just a few seconds, Gu Ran went straight into the middle to support Chamberlain.

Chamberlain dribbled the ball to the outside of the penalty area and attracted at least three defensive players. He made a beautiful fake pass and then passed the ball short to Gu Ran. After Gu Ran took the ball, he once again pulled horizontally outside the penalty area. Lana, Gully, and Garrod rushed to the penalty area to prepare for the cake.

Swindon City's defense players were a bit numb, and for a while they didn't know who to focus on.

There were only two defensive players around Gu Ran, but the defense was obviously not strong enough.

Gu Ran was not polite and did two Matthews shoulder-sinks directly at the top of the penalty area, knocking the two players guarding him to the ground.

Gu Ran immediately rushed in with the ball. Before other defensive players could rush up to intercept him, Gu Ran fired a powerful shot!
The football hit the upper right corner of the goal like a cannonball!
Swindon Town's goalkeeper David Lucas had no time to react and was stuck on the spot!

The ball is in!
Southampton scored two goals in 5 minutes!
This is also Gu Ran's first goal in the British Championship!
The score on the big screen was immediately rewritten as Swindon City 1:2 Southampton. Southampton completed the reversal!

The faces of the Swindon City players were full of despair, and their iron-barrel formation was completely unable to limit Gu Ran's performance in the backcourt, midfield, and frontcourt!

In the 72nd minute, Gu Ran advanced on the central axis again. After attracting at least 7 defensive players, Gu Ran made a beautiful magic lamp to guide the ball and penetrated Swindon City's unformed iron barrel. The defense line sent the ball to the feet of young forward Garrod.

Garrod made it happen in one fell swoop!

The score on the big screen was rewritten as Swindon City 1:3 Southampton!
Southampton let 1 chase 3!
The Southampton team may still have many problems in the first half, but after replacing Gu Ran, the only problem was how to get Gu Ran to stop playing.

In the 88th minute, the Swindon City team, which had lost the fighting spirit to win, played with fire in the backcourt. Gu Ran got to the attacking midfielder position and saw the opportunity and rushed forward to steal it completely with his body. Then he distributed the ball to the left wing and actively moved up the side. Chamberlain.

Chamberlain immediately dribbled the ball inside to the wing of the penalty area and shot directly into the far corner!

Swindon's goalkeeper has abandoned the goal and is helpless!

The ball went in again!

The score on the big screen was immediately rewritten as Swindon City 1:4 Southampton.

Southampton let 1 chase 4!

After scoring the goal, Chamberlain slid to his knees and slid in front of Gu Ran, holding Gu Ran's thigh with both hands to celebrate...

Beep, beep, beep!

After 3 minutes of injury time, the referee blew the whistle to end the game.

In the end, the defending champion of the British Championship eliminated the rival Swindon City at the same level at the country course and successfully advanced to the second round of the Southern Division!
Gu Ran had 3 passes and 1 shot, dominating the game with a wonderful performance, and won the best player of the game with a rating of 8.2 points.

——The main reason for the low rating is that Gu Ran only played 40 minutes.

At the post-match press conference, Swindon head coach Danny Wilson praised Gu Ran's performance. Danny Wilson was very envious of Coach Adkins for having a superstar player like Gu Ran.

Coach Adkins was also deeply satisfied with Southampton's performance after replacing Gu in the second half.

After this game, Gu Ran's "Physique" increased to 82 points, "Dribbling" increased to 76 points, "Crossing" increased to 68 points, and "Prejudgment" increased to 68 points.

——The growth rate increase this time is only 4.

The "Cross" attribute is displayed for the first time.

This time, the system score was only S-level, and only hidden draws could be conducted, but point washing and reorganization were not possible.

After all, the opponent was too weak, and he didn't play enough time.

However, having an S lottery is better than having nothing at all. Besides, the competition is so dense and the strength of the opponents is uneven. It is impossible to guarantee that every game will get an SS rating.

This time in the lottery, Gu Ran won "dribbling with the back foot".

Although the growth rewards are low, this lottery is still very powerful, and the back-foot dribbling skill is quite practical.

Backfoot dribbling was immediately increased from +3 to +6.

Before this game, Gu Ran also automatically redeemed 2 talent points. Gu Ran then allocated these 2 talent points to the balance attribute and flexibility attribute respectively. In this way, the balance attribute and flexibility attribute were also increased to 78 points. .

At this point, the entire August competition is over.

The next game will be the fifth round of the English League One on Saturday, September 9th at 4pm. Southampton will challenge Colchester United away.

After the players took the bus back to the Staplewood training base, Coach Adkins held a brief summary meeting.

Coach Adkins is very satisfied with the performance of the players this month, so the team takes two days off. All players need to return to the training ground on September 2 to prepare for the fifth round of the English League One.

Southampton's players suddenly cheered happily.

After the disbandment, Walton and other players immediately ran over and surrounded Gu Ran, "Hey, Gu! I'm going to hold a birthday party tomorrow night. You promised me, you must come then."

Gu Ran smiled helplessly, "Team deputy, I really don't like parties."

Walton said quickly: "Don't worry, there will be no outsiders at the party tomorrow night, almost all of us! Moreover, there will be mysterious star guests!"

Captain Davis also came over and said with a smile: "Come on, we have two days off. The competition is so intensive, and it's not easy for us to get a chance to get together."

"Then... okay." Gu Ran shrugged, "Since the two captains have said so, I will definitely go tomorrow night."

"Yeah! Awesome!"

"Let's party together tomorrow night!"

"I'll go back tonight to prepare the decoration!"

"Gu, go back and rest early. We'll see you tomorrow!"

"Okay, see you tomorrow." As Gu Ran packed up his personal belongings, he couldn't help but think: Which football star will be at tomorrow's birthday party?

At this moment, a photo text message was received on the phone.

Supermodel Abby Clancy is still hanging on.

Gu Ran was almost moved by her persistent behavior.

Gu Ran critically browsed Abby Clancy's photo, and then drove to Hayden Manor.

It’s been a long time since I rode a horse...

(End of this chapter)