Football: A late bloomer, starting with Leicester City

Chapter 80 The heat continues to rise, the arrogant Dutchman Van Gaal (please vote for me)

As the popularity intensifies, many legendary superstars who have retired long ago and are now working in the media have also joined the debate.

The first person to appear was Gary Neville, who has been active in football since retiring from Manchester United.

As one of the legendary achievements of Manchester United, as soon as his words are spoken, they are bound to be popular among fans around the world.

"Leicester City had a dream-like first [-] rounds, but as said online, they did not encounter too many challenges."

Gary Neville in the picture seems to be at home, wearing casual clothes and live broadcasting with the fans, "First of all, we cannot deny that Ranieri's team has achieved extraordinary stability this season."

"Relegation is no longer a big problem for them."

"But if you want to compete for the top six or even the top four, or I think many fans are fantasizing about a miracle and winning the championship, that is still unlikely."

"We will play against all the teams in the middle of the season. At that time, perhaps we can determine the future direction of a team, and Leicester City has obviously not yet played against many wealthy upstarts."

As if he saw the barrage asking him to predict, Gary Neville smiled and said: "Based on my experience, I can say with certainty that in these four games against Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester City."

"Leicester City's scoring range should be between one point and three points. We cannot rule out that they will get a draw or an upset victory. They are not a very weak team."

"Of course, I take responsibility for my words."

After Gary Neville said these words, Lineker, also a well-known media person and former Leicester City star, also appeared on his show.

Still dressed the same way, still looking the same.

"If what I said before the season was that as long as Leicester City reached first place, I would take off my clothes, I would have lost my guarantee by the end of the season."

Lineker chose a humorous opening statement, and then laughed: "Okay, let's take a look at the current situation of this team. I know that they are caught in a relatively big public opinion storm."

"As a famous Leicester City player, of course I should speak to them, so I chose to look at their performance against the BIG6 from a player's perspective."

There was a smile on Lineker's expression, and his meaning was actually very obvious. He was very optimistic that Leicester City could survive in the cracks.

He didn't even want to mention the winning or losing points.

"First of all, it's definitely Vardy. If he scores against Manchester United, he will break Ruud van Nistelrooy's record."

"It's a difficult thing, especially when you face Louis van Gaal and a team like Manchester United, but it has reached this point and I believe Vardy will fight for it with all his strength."

Then Lineker pulled up another photo from the big screen in his studio.

It was a picture captured during Leicester City training. Mahrez jumped high on Chen Yufeng's back. The two seemed to be celebrating a goal.

"This is a warm picture. The two protagonists, one old and one young, are the two cores of Leicester City's offense this season."

"I think everyone has heard of Mahrez, but many people are a little unfamiliar with the name Chen Yufeng."

Lineker laughed at himself, "To be honest, I didn't even know that Chen Yufeng was in the team before the season."

"But when I saw that he still had five goals and seven assists in the first thirteen Premier League games, even though he didn't play in two of them, I was dumbfounded."

Lineker pressed the remote control, and Chen Yufeng's goal highlights began to play on the TV screen again. The first was definitely his shocking lob against Sunderland on his debut. "When he scored this goal, I only found out his name from the information."

"But today, a few months later, he has become one of the most efficient frontcourt players in the Premier League."

"Even though he is not very famous due to various reasons, I still think he is one of the best players in Leicester City this season."

"I hope everyone can pay more attention to this super attacker in the future. He has an inspiring story that can inspire everyone. He is a true late bloomer."

Lineker clapped his hands and said, "Okay, let's get back to the topic."

"With the three frontcourt players in very good condition, I am optimistic that they can jointly score a total of three goals in the four games against BIG6."

"This is my expectation for Leicester City. I hope everyone will not take it out of context and enjoy watching the game."

The words of Gary Neville and Lineker were still very important. It didn't take long for them to spread throughout the British Peninsula and Europe, and even moved towards the world football circle.

As one of the most successful football media figures, they have that kind of influence.

For fans, in addition to more people getting to know Chen Yufeng, Mahrez and Vardy.

Everyone has come to a very obvious conclusion - Leicester City is about to fall significantly from the top of the standings. They are about to be crushed by the Premier League BIG6, and may only get a pitiful point.

Leicester City fans themselves are not actually angry about these news.

This is indeed true. They themselves are in a weak position, and outside media people have different opinions. You can't silence anyone or control anyone's position.

What really made them angry and hoped that the home team could bring all this back was the press conference before the game against Manchester United on November 11.

Dutch coach Louis van Gaal, a world-renowned coach and a tactician with numerous merits and honors, made an arrogant statement when facing the British media.

"In my opinion Ranieri is still playing Italian football at the end of the [-]th century and the beginning of this century. They are completely different from the other teams in terms of philosophy."

"Even though they seemed to be playing well at the beginning, it was ugly and there was no follow-up. Do you understand what I mean?"

"His tactics will be completely shattered when facing strong teams, and his players will feel as if they are primitive people walking out of the cave, naked and weak."

A reporter looked at Van Gaal's state and knew that it was time to make a cliche. He immediately said: "How many points do you think they will score against the four BIG6 teams next?"

"I really don't like the name BIG6, but I understand what you mean."

Van Gaal raised his eyebrows. This is his second season at Manchester United, and his spirits are still very high.

After hesitating for a while, he finally spoke: "I am not optimistic about them scoring points. Their players are too old and it is difficult to score goals and win in such a high-confrontation game."

"Okay, I'm going to lead the players to start warming up. The game is about to start."

Van Gaal waved his hand and left the press conference room, and his speech spread like a plague to every corner, instantly arousing the anger of Leicester City fans.

(End of this chapter)