Football: A late bloomer, starting with Leicester City

Chapter 354 April Devil’s Month! A hat trick is enough for me to say something wonderful to the media.

The March schedule ended like this. Nothing exciting happened, only steady progress.

The only thing worth noting is that the 3th round of the Premier League originally scheduled for March 15 was postponed due to the impact of the Champions League.

Their match against West Ham United on March 3 was the 18th round of the league. It was considered that there was one vacancy in the middle and one game less.

The Premier League schedule is like this. Many times it will be postponed due to interference from some external events. The reason for the postponement is normal, but sometimes there will be some weird ones.

The postponement was placed in late April, which also meant that Leicester City had to face a situation of nine games in a single month in April.

9 games in a single month!

On average, there will be a game in about three days, which is simply devilish!

It doesn't look like someone kicked it at all.

Some fans may have objections. There is still plenty of time in March, so why not play in March?

The answer is simple. The rest of March is the international match day, and many players will be transferred back to their countries to participate in some friendly matches to run the lineup.

Chen Yufeng still did not go this time. He had already resigned from Mr. Wilmots.

During this period, he will stay at the training base to improve his physical fitness and prepare for the upcoming Devil's Month.

People often say that playing multiple games in a month is the moment to prove a team's heritage, but Leicester City has no heritage. All they have is Ranieri who is tired of rotating the lineup, and players who are tired of coping.

"Here I sincerely hope that we can finish the last 17 games, preferably not even one."

He knows that Leicester City is now 1 point behind Chelsea and ranked second in the standings because of one game less.

After he finished speaking, there was a burst of laughter. Some people said that Okazaki Shinsi was too greedy, and some others followed him in this dream that seemed like a dream.

In the Leicester City locker room on this day, all the players completed the last day of recovery training, and many players had smiles on their faces.

"So, there are just ten rounds left in our Premier League matches, and the FA Cup is considered full, which is two games."

Chen Yufeng took a shower next to the locker room, chatted with his teammates for a while, and said goodbye to his teammates who were leaving for the national team.

This was actually one of the reasons that led to Wenger's hasty dismissal of get out of class in 18. Teaching the Gunners at the end of his career had officially begun at this time.

As for Arsenal, who is sixth in the league... there is no such thing. It is difficult for Arsenal to even enter the top four, and it can almost be said to be completely behind.

The taste of freedom is intoxicating.

Every game that follows determines his fate, and he hopes to use these friendly matches to improve himself.

Then comes the FA Cup semi-finals, followed by two more Premier League games.

…………

They had a lot of hearty wins in the middle of the league, and their defense was more solid. Chelsea was 12 points behind Leicester City on goal difference.

Since his complexion and condition have improved recently, Ranieri did not ask anyone to follow him, which also made it easier for him to conduct some combination training at the training base.

"If there is a tie in the end, then on goal difference, Leicester City will win."

Get up at 7:30 in the morning to have breakfast, go out for training at 8:30, go home and have another meal at 11 o'clock, and then go to the club's training base.

For a period of time after that, Chen Yufeng resumed a simple training life.

"The battle with Chelsea may end at the end of the league. If one of the two teams fails, they will be overtaken directly."

Tottenham and Manchester City, the top four, still have a small chance of competing for the championship. Manchester United, who is fifth in the league, actually also has a theoretical chance.

Eat small meals more often. This is a dietary approach that most professional players believe in and are also advised by their nutritionists and physical coaches.

Looking at it now, the league is about to end after 30 rounds, and the championship situation is actually not clear.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Chen Yufeng will have his third meal, his fourth meal at four-thirty, and his fifth meal at six-thirty.

The first thing to come up in April will be 4 Premier League games, followed by 4 home and away Champions League games.

"Alas..." Chen Yufeng could only lament. It seems that Professor Wenger will fall out of the top four for the first time this season.

After watching it for a while, Chen Yufeng still set his goal on competing for the championship. After a season of stumbles, no one wanted to continue since he was ranked here.

"It's full." Chen Yufeng wailed helplessly.

I hope that large-scale injuries will not happen. He will be fine if he is injured and will recover quickly. Once his teammates are injured, the problem will be bigger.

As for those who don’t have it, you can go for extra training with Chen Yufeng, or you can go on vacation by yourself.

Sometimes, when you are powerful enough to change the fate of others, you will have some privileges.

Shinji Okazaki was doing arithmetic problems on the side. When he said the last words, there was a smirk on his expression, "If the Champions League is full, it will be five games."

Before leaving, he took a look at the detailed schedule and had a clear understanding of the upcoming schedule.

Wilmots has been affected by the dismissal turmoil since the start of the European Cup group stage. It was Chen Yufeng who solved many problems for him to keep his position as coach and coach to this day.

Don’t eat too much at every meal.

Those who have national team competition duties are naturally prepared to travel long distances to report.

It all depends on perseverance...

Chen Yufeng stood aside and said nothing. He was observing the Premier League standings.

"I don't want to think about it anymore, let's get ready to face new challenges."

Conte's team often won games 1-0.

But the teams at the bottom of the standings are rarely observed.

If Chen Yufeng has a request, will he not resolve it?

This is the core of the team and the boss of the locker room. We will have to rely on him in the future.

This helps the body recover and replenish energy, especially during high-intensity workouts.

As the days passed, Chen Yufeng was sweating profusely every day and did not dare to slack off at all.

His physical fitness also increased rapidly, and gradually reached a point where he could use it.

57, 58, 59...62!

When the time came for the team to gather and start a new round of preparation training, Chen Yufeng's physical fitness had reached 62 points.

He's not slowing down any improvement, he's keeping it up during the schedule, which will help him deal with the increasingly important games later on.

Anyway, muscle fatigue and minor injuries recover quickly, so he doesn't have to worry about other problems.

…………

On April 4st, the Devil’s Month officially arrives.

Leicester City first ushered in a duel with the Sky City Stoke City, which was considered an appetizer.

In the dressing room before the game, Leicester City's players and coaches formed a large circle. Chen Yufeng, who had returned to full form, put his hand in the middle of the crowd, and some people close to him also put their hands up.

Everyone turned their attention to Chen Yufeng, waiting for him to say something.

This is like the captain of the fleet giving some instructions to others before setting off for the expedition.

They can trust Chen Yufeng, and they are willing to follow Chen Yufeng, even if some people are older than Chen Yufeng.

"I said in December that I would sum up the past, and I said it again in February, but it has never been fulfilled."

Chen Yufeng's eyes swept away from the passionate faces, and his mood was extremely high, "Do you know why? Because we advanced too fast, we broke into the FA Cup semi-finals beyond everyone's expectations. , Champions League quarterfinals!”

"Why wasn't the 28th round of the league played? Why was it postponed? Because the FA never thought before the season that we would be able to play in the Champions League in March!"

It would be a bit imprecise to say this, but with the support of this atmosphere, this is indeed a sentence to encourage the players' emotions. Besides, it is not wrong to think so.

"The schedule will be postponed, and our summary may also be postponed. I want to postpone it until the end of the season!"

"Going round and round, another year is about to pass! I don't want to end everything with a hasty parade and celebration like last year. This year we must sum up this heart-wrenching year!"

"We're going to get drunk!"

"So, whether the summary will be with laughter and heroism, or with helplessness and sadness, or even anger and unwillingness, it all depends on our performance this month!"

Chen Yufeng gestured with the number 9, "Before the end of a movie, it will give the protagonist a very big ordeal, an obstacle that seems unsolvable, but every protagonist will overcome it."

"Our difficulties and obstacles are this devil's January."

"I hope that we can all become the protagonists of the movie story, the protagonists of this team, and the protagonists of our own lives. We can overcome this obstacle together and usher in the best ending."

"Brothers, starting from today's game, starting from today's opponent Stoke City, come on!!!"

"Come on Leicester City!!" Roaring cheers rang out, and the players cheered one last time, and then rushed towards the stadium with determined expressions.

The game then started as usual.

But from the moment it started, everything seemed to take on a different meaning.

"Stoke City did not have any preparations to fight against Leicester City, but Leicester City seemed to be well prepared. They were ready to attack. They have been pressing Stoke City since they first came up. Kremlin's half was playing."

"Chen Yufeng looked very active today, which must be bad news for the Stoke City players."

"Klose! Corner kick chance! Just a little bit close!"

"Leicester City continues to invest in the frontcourt, and Stoke City's three lines have all been posted near the penalty area line. They are like sandwich burgers huddled together!"

"Mahrez! Chen Yufeng from behind! Didn't score this goal! The chance was so close!"

"Sometimes it is not a good thing to act too hastily. Everything must be planned slowly. If desire is too strong, it will be counterproductive. I hope Leicester City can adjust as soon as possible."

"This was really a magical half. Relying on their super air defense capabilities and full-line defense, Stoke City actually defended Leicester City's bombardment. The second half of the game may be more exciting."

"..."

"The ball was scored! In the fifty-seventh minute of the game, Mahrez became today's corkscrew!"

"We caught a lot of things from his face! It was a beautiful goal, from Mahrez cutting inside, also from his non-dominant foot!"

"One to zero! Leicester City is ahead of Stoke City!"

"Oh——! Two to zero!"

"Not long after the last goal, Chen Yufeng, who was very active in today's game, scored the goal that should have belonged to him!"

"Goal with a header! Chen Yufeng has had a lot of headers this season, and he is on his way to becoming an all-around shooter!"

"..."

"In this case, this game is over. We congratulate Leicester City for defeating the tough Stoke City 2-0. They were not opened up by Chelsea!"

"With one game in hand, Leicester City still has the absolute initiative in the championship!"

Shinji Okazaki, who has not yet returned from injury, sat on the bench and stood up to applaud the team's performance today. There was a strong desire in his eyes. He really wanted to put on the Leicester City jersey. Attacking the city for the team.

In another half month, he will definitely be able to stand on the court intact as before! Hold on until that day! !

After the game, reports on the Internet began to roll, and many media focused their attention on Leicester City.

[Beat Stoke City 2-0! While easily defeating Sky City, Leicester City may have to make plans for the rotation list and injury adjustments in advance! 】

[Chelsea’s best chance to regain top spot? Leicester City ushered in a super devilish schedule of 9 games in a single month this month, and chaos is about to come! 】

[Can you survive until the end of the month? Give up the Premier League title or give up the Champions League title, a difficult choice is facing Leicester City! 】

It can be seen that due to the impact of the devil's schedule, many media have expressed their disapproval of Leicester City.

…………

On April 4, the 4st round of the Premier League match against Sunderland came as scheduled. Leicester City rested the experienced Mahrez and Morgan Huth in this game.

A group of younger lineups were pushed out for this game where the pressure was not high.

In the opening stage, just like the previous game, Leicester City experienced a period of scoring drought.

Their ball play in the midfield and backcourt became sluggish, the frontcourt players obviously had fewer opportunities to catch the ball, and the only threat on the wing was Chen Yufeng's side.

But it's okay, the dilemma depends on the superstar.

"Chen Yufeng! Do you want to come up and solve the problem yourself again?"

"Speed ​​attack! One, two, three...!"

"There is no one in the middle to take care of him. With his character, the path he will most likely choose is..."

"That's right! It's an inside cut!"

"The Sunderland defender interfered, but the kick did not go far. The football hit Chen Yufeng's feet and bounced back into the penalty area, turning into a half-high ball. The goalkeeper -?"

"The goalkeeper has no choice. Chen Yufeng is faster! He is like a cheetah! One kick!"

"The goal is scored! Beautiful! Beautiful! The first goal of this game appeared in the 35th minute of the game! Sunderland's dream is over!"

"..."

"Chilwell, he hasn't had many opportunities recently, but today, due to changes in the defense, he appeared at the full-back position again!"

"A cross!"

"Klose! Are you ready?"

"Two to zero! In the 89th minute of the game, the same score as the previous game, Leicester City will securely take three points again! Congratulations to them!"

"In the past two games of the devil's schedule, Leicester City has had a good start!"

"..."

After the game, many media published a series of articles.

[The final winning streak? The entire Leicester City team is at the end of its rope, and collapse is just ahead! 】

[Rotating a large number of lineups and winning with difficulty, on Chen Yufeng’s importance to this team——]

[The impact of any injury on this team will definitely not be small, especially Chen Yufeng. Once they lose Chen Yufeng, they may collapse in the third line! 】

When the domestic competition was going on, the British media still followed domestic practice and expressed their disapproval of Leicester City.

They are not playing in the Champions League, so why do they want to praise the small town miracle again?

No, it's enough to slay the dragon for one year, why do you want to slay the dragon for two years?

This is too disrespectful to them!

…………

On April 4, three days passed, and Leicester City, which had not experienced much rest, ushered in another key game.

An away match against a mid-table team in the league, Everton.

This is a difficult game. Battle after battle, the fatigue of Leicester City players is gradually increasing.

Coupled with the long journey and travel in the away game, all the unfavorable factors have been gathered together.

"The rotation of Kante and Drinkwater has a relatively large impact on Leicester City. They sent Ndidi to partner Andy King in today's game, and the midfielder lost a lot of hardness."

"We all know that Everton is a very tough team. I wonder if they will crush Leicester City's dream of ending today?"

"..."

"The goal was scored! In the sixth minute of the game, Lukaku's goal gave Everton the lead! As expected, Kante is indispensable!"

"In the opening minutes of Leicester City, they did not expect Everton to play so proactively! I have to say that Koeman made the right decision. After seeing Kante not playing, he played A four-three-three bayonet formation!"

"Oh——! The second goal has arrived! Leicester City seems to be stunned!"

"In just twenty minutes, Leicester City fell behind 2-0!"

"..."

"Andy King! Make up for it! He scored a goal that preserved suspense for Leicester City! They still have a certain chance to equalize the score."

"I can see the barrage. I know that their midfield partnership has been criticized today. I hope this goal can help Andy King find some confidence and play more exciting games in the future!"

After Andy King changed the score to 1-2, the next game was full of twists and turns.

First, Chen Yufeng's goal helped Leicester City equalize the score, and then Morgan, the second captain of the team who returned to the team, overtook the score in the 85th minute of the game and completed a key goal that was almost sure to win.

But in the end, Lukaku's unsolvable long shot knocked away Leicester City's three-pointer.

Three to three!

This is the final score!

Leicester City drew with Everton away from home!

The impact of the devil's schedule is gradually reflected. In this game, Leicester City did not play the style that a team at the top of the league should have.

Zhan Jun was hoarse from shouting in this game. The twists and turns of the plot are exciting, but... all Blue Fox fans and Chen Yufeng fans have to accept a fact.

With one game in hand, the gap between Leicester City and Chelsea is three points.

This means that they must defeat Wenger's team at the end of the month to maintain their first position.

The pressure shrouded every player, making them feel breathless.

The British media also seized the opportunity to add insult to injury.

[3-3 draw with Everton! Leicester City's winning streak ends! Decline is on full display! The collapse is in the next away game against Crystal Palace! 】

[Sky Sports: Journalist Georgie Thompson, who has a lot of connections with Leicester City, said that he has seen the future of Leicester City, draw, draw, defeat, defeat, and then a complete defeat——]

[The prediction is correct, Leicester City still lost in the end in terms of foundation and rotation player reserves, and the team has gradually lost its absolute championship competitiveness! 】

In response to this, in an interview program in the evening, Chen Yufeng expressed his dissatisfaction bluntly, "We only tied one game, and we did not lose many games in a row."

"I've said it many times, there are a lot of people waiting for us to fail."

"Then...just keep waiting. I don't know if you can live to see that day."

"Small setbacks are not failures. Let's look at the final results, okay?"

His remarks were criticized by many people. People attacked Chen Yufeng because he was not in good enough form recently and did not score enough goals.

However, this poor state and not many goals are just compared to the previous Chen Yufeng, and they are not counted among others.

Otherwise, how can others live?

But this did offend Chen Yufeng himself. Now his state of mind is different. It is not so much that it is difficult for him to accept what the media said, but that it is difficult for him to accept his decline in status.

Just wait and see...

Chen Yufeng set his sights on the schedule, looking for time to counterattack.

In this way, time gradually came to April 4, and Leicester City ushered in the 10rd round of the Premier League, an away game against Crystal Palace.

Since the first leg against Atletico Madrid will be three days later, Leicester City still uses a rotating lineup in this game.

Chen Yufeng, who had just finished his quarrel with the media, forcefully expressed his desire to play to Ranieri. Only then did he get the opportunity to play and appeared on the field with a group of young boys.

"Although the game started in the 33rd round, it can only be said to be Leicester City's 32nd game in the Premier League this season."

"Crystal Palace played more proactively today. Are they trying to imitate Everton? I don't know if they will be punished for doing so given their strength."

"The punishment is here! In the 17th minute of the game, Chen Yufeng received Klose's header and scored the first goal of the game. Leicester City took the lead by one goal!"

"Chen Yufeng has a strong desire to score goals on his face. Is he going to vent his dissatisfaction with the media on Crystal Palace?"

"If this is really the case, then the Crystal Palace will be in trouble..."

"Sure enough! It's true! Only 8 minutes have passed since the last goal, and Chen Yufeng scored another goal through a corner kick! It was Chilwell who took the corner kick. Their recent cooperation has been very tacit!"

"After scoring twice so early, everyone knows what we should expect next, right?"

"..."

"Andy King, pass the ball to Albrighton on the wing. Albrighton is observing the situation in the middle!"

"Cross the ball to Klose!"

"Not found, the football was cleared by the Crystal Palace defender!"

"Two o'clock! Chen Yufeng!!"

"Oh...!! It's coming, it's coming! Chen Yufeng's third goal in this game, a hat trick! A wonderful world-beating long shot!"

"Unstoppable!! The media's attacks on him have aroused his desire to fight! This is Chen Yufeng who is at 120%!"

"We see that Ranieri is persuading Chen Yufeng to save his energy. The Champions League game will be in three days. After completing the hat trick, he can really consider staying in the next important game!"

"Well, at the end of half-time, Leicester City leads Crystal Palace 3-0. There is basically no suspense anymore."

"The expressions we saw on the Crystal Palace players were very exciting. They all seemed to be saying, get down quickly, we, Miao Xiao, can't accommodate you anymore..."

"..."

As Zhang Lu's voice sounded, the on-site director also showed the camera to the Crystal Palace players.

Indeed, Zhang Lu said it very vividly. The faces are full of complexity, some are fearful, some are helpless, some are admired, and some are angry.

As for Chen Yufeng?

He himself left the scene with an indifferent expression, without having much communication with the people around him.

After the start of the second half, Chen Yufeng failed to show off. He accepted Ranieri's substitution adjustment calmly and sat on the sidelines to rest.

The hat-trick performance was enough for him to say something wonderful to the media.

(End of this chapter)