Chapter 394 It’s time to look at Sheffield United’s face again

Author: The first foodie in darkness

Starting from November 18th, most professional players in the five major leagues have taken their vacation days and returned to the training bases of their respective clubs.

Of course, there are also some very hard-working people who waited until the 20th to bid farewell to the national team.

Although friendly matches are played, the intensity is not too high, and most of the well-known stars play about half of each friendly match.

But running back and forth is quite tiring.

This is especially true for professional players in Asia and America.

Fortunately, after returning to their respective training bases, they basically still have two days to rest and do recovery training.

Players who have been on a plane for a long time may not be able to start in the next round of the league, but players who are playing for the national team in Europe will be fine.

At this time, at Sheffield United's Harlan training base, Speed, on the advice of the team doctor, generously asked Medel and Neymar to report without having to rush.

Even though Medel and Neymar felt there were no physical problems, they were "mandated" to take two more days of rest.

The rest of the Sheffield United players are not so lucky and should train.

After all, the twelfth round of the Premier League will be played on the 23rd. Except for a few players who have no national team competition duties and started preparing for the game in advance, those who played in the friendly matches only resumed joint training on the 21st. We must hurry up.

However, the training was stressful, and the Sheffield United players were quite relaxed emotionally, with no worries about unexpected situations happening at the "Sky City" home court.

After all, the rankings are there, and Sky City has completely become a relegation team this season.

At the beginning of the season, Stoke City won two out of three games and reached the top six in the standings. At that time, the Sky City cards were full and they were expected to have a big fight in the new season and win a European Cup.

The posture of playing around with quotas.

But now, after the first eleven rounds of the league, Sky City's win number is still "2". It should not be difficult to imagine how "tragic" the subsequent record will be.

Mark Hughes, the new coach who was praised and praised by Stoke City fans when he took office, also quickly became one of the top three unlucky players in the Premier League with odds of dismissal.

Even though he recently led the team to two consecutive draws, including a draw with Southampton, which was on the rise and stopped the losing streak, Stoke City fans still don't buy it.

Think about it too.

Sky City has been a famous troublemaker in the Premier League since they were re-promoted to the Premier League.

Even if they haven't broken into the top eight of the Premier League in the past few seasons, they still have no worries about relegation at the end of every season.

Not to mention that former coach Tony Pulis also led the team to the FA Cup final and qualified for the European competition.

This alone is enough to make him the "White Moonlight" in the hearts of all Stoke City fans.

Tony Pulis said goodbye to Stoke City in the summer because of dissatisfaction with the transfer investment.

After bidding farewell to this meritorious coach, although Stoke City fans were sad, they were still relatively friendly to the new coach.

This friendship directly transformed into firm support and praise after reaching the top six in the league at the beginning of the season.

Of course, now I am extremely dissatisfied and despised.

But you can’t blame Stoke City fans.

After all, I have been used to a stable record in the past few years, so forget it if I can't make it up. At least I am far away from the relegation zone, so I feel safe.

But now you lead the team directly into the relegation zone, unable to climb out, WDNMD! Who can stand this!

If these fans are used to watching Premier League games and want to watch the English Championship again, then it will not work.

As a result, the voices calling for Mark Hughes to be sacked became louder and louder in Stoke City, and protests at various stadiums emerged one after another.

But Stoke City's top brass quit.

Resigning early? You will have to pay liquidated damages!

How many millions!

Do you pay or do we pay?

So despite the fans' protests and the high-level management's efforts to protect him, Mark Hughes was still able to sit firmly on the coaching bench after ten games without a win without any panic.

Let’s leave Chelsea alone. Let alone not win ten rounds, if you dare not win five rounds, then pack up and get out!

All I can say is that it's all about money.

At least in the eyes of countless fans at this moment, it is because they are reluctant to spend money that the top management of Stoke City dare not tell Mark Hughes to get out.

But in Li Mo's view, this is just a short period of darkness before Stoke City starts again.

He was a veteran Premier League fan in his previous life. How could he forget Mark Hughes and the new Stoke City he led?

Stoke City led by Tony Pulis is very good, not only relegating steadily every year, but also qualifying for the European competition.

But what is the highest league ranking he has led his team to?

Eleventh place in the Premier League.

In Mark Hughes' first season leading Stoke City, this season, he rushed to ninth in the Premier League on the original timeline!

That's right, Stoke City, which is currently ranked third from the bottom in the league, in Li Mo's impression, almost reached the top eight in the Premier League at the end of the season.

This is quite an exaggeration.

Without making many purchases or reinforcements, Mark Hughes relied on his excellent coaching methods to abruptly raise Stoke City's upper limit.

And this kind of improvement is not a flash in the pan. In the 14-15 and 15-16 seasons in Li Mo's memory, Stoke City achieved a jaw-dropping ninth place in the Premier League!

Staying in the top ten of the Premier League for three consecutive years. Really, if Stoke City's top management bites the bullet and saves money for two years so that Mark Hughes can make a small splash, the Sky City team will really have a chance to enter the European theater.

Therefore, Li Mo is still very wary of Stoke City and is not as relaxed and optimistic as his teammates.

However, it seems that Stoke City has not yet started to rise in rhythm, which is a great thing for Sheffield United.

"I just don't know, if Sky City explodes after playing us, will fans of other teams complain that Sheffield United woke up Mark Hughes?"

Li Mo had some vulgar imagination and felt that if such a situation really happened, it would be very interesting.

The two days of joint training and preparation time passed quickly. Amid the expectations of countless Premier League fans, the twelfth round of the league kicked off on time.

The Merseyside derby between Everton and Liverpool became the early appetizer.

The two teams currently share 20 points and are currently stuck in front of the top four gates of the league. It can be said that they are furious.

It was one of the most popular derbies in the Premier League. The two teams' crazy attack made neutral fans happy to watch, and the final score of 3-3 also shocked the media's attention.

"This is not an appetizer. If this is an appetizer, then we might not even have dessert after the meal."

After seeing the score at the end of the Merseyside derby, Speed ​​laughed and cursed.

He came to the Britannia Stadium today with a relatively conservative strategy. If any fans want to see Sheffield United beat the weak, they are bound to be disappointed.

Sure enough, when the game between Stoke City and Sheffield United started, many neutral fans tweeted that it was boring to see Sheffield United deliberately controlling the rhythm and advancing slowly.

Only Stoke City fans breathed a sigh of relief, and their feelings towards Sheffield United became more friendly.

Look, what does it mean to be a real big brother in the league, someone who knows how to be considerate of the relegation teams at the bottom?

Of course, they don't expect Sheffield United to be generous enough to give them points.

But losing also has different ways of losing.

Can losing 0-4 be the same as losing 0-1, 0-2?

Sheffield United chose not to take a painful hit, which is already very good. They lost two games less and the goal difference data is not too ugly.

Sheffield United's starting players naturally know what they are doing. Just play steadily. You have to score one goal in the first half. After scoring a goal, how you play in the second half depends on whether Stoke City can succeed.

Already.

Li Mo also observed Stoke City's new tactics with great interest when he was free on the court.

Well, increased ground control, more patience in passing and receiving, and intentionally enhanced the ball control rate in the midfield

In general, the previous slightly "rough" Stoke City team is indeed gone, at least there are no longer too many long passes initiated from the backcourt.

Mark Hughes has gradually led the new Sky City team to adopt a European-style technical style of play.

If they can still maintain their original threatening set-piece ability, then Stoke City will indeed have the capital to build on their original results.

Speed's observations are naturally more detailed than Li Mo's.

Seeing how Stoke City and Sheffield United were competing for possession of the ball in the midfield, he couldn't help but look at Mark Hughes on the other side.

"It's a pity that the time is too short, otherwise"

Speed ​​muttered and shook his head, feeling a little pity for Stoke City in his heart.

If Mark Hughes had more preparation time in the summer, Stoke City's tactical change would not have sacrificed so many league games.

If Stoke City could perform at today's level some time ago, it wouldn't be difficult to win even in ten games.

There was Swansea before, followed by Southampton and Stoke City. More and more Premier League teams have embarked on technological stream reforms. In the future, competition in the Premier League will only become more intense.

Speed ​​sighed with emotion, but the tactical instructions in his hands were unambiguous.

"Overwhelm their midfield! Speed ​​up, speed up!"

Drinkwater saw Speed's tactical adjustment gesture and shouted to speed up the ball transmission at his feet.
To be continued...