Fox in the Penalty Area

Leeds City did not win the Community Shield. In the eyes of some media and fans, they lost more than just a championship.

Tony Clark may not care about this champion, but some people do.

In addition, Leeds won a win in the International Champions Cup.

Leeds City lost all the first four important matches in the league.

This is true.

So after the loss of the Community Shield, the media began to criticize Clark, as well as the voices of downplaying Leeds City.

"...The defenders of Manchester Sport proved that Hu is not unstoppable. Although he killed all sides in the World Cup, he will be restricted when he returns to Leeds... Don't tell me about Leeds. The game did not exhaust the main force, but Manchester Athletic is also a rotation lineup..."

"From this game, the most indispensable player for Leeds may not be Hu, but Pete Williams. His absence due to injury has a great impact on Leeds's offensive organization..."

"After Williams was injured, Clark tried to make some adjustments to his offensive system, and his adjustment was... to make Jay Adams more forward... Ha! He just let the team reclaim it. The adjustments to improve the defensive level of Leeds City are similar in the same way!"

"As his debut in Leeds, Cedu did not perform well in this game. He is not very comfortable with the rhythm of playing in England... There are two goals lost in this game that are related to him. I hope Cedu Able to adapt as soon as possible, after all, he didn't come to Leeds to play as a substitute..."

"If Leeds City starts the new Premier League season in this state, then I assert that their final rankings this season will probably be terrible..."

"I remind those optimistic Leeds City fans to pay attention. Leeds City will play in the UEFA Champions League this season. For Leeds City, who participated in the UEFA Champions League for the first time, how much pressure is in the double line, I am afraid they don't know... but it doesn't matter , They will know soon!"

...

There are many criticisms like this.

And it can’t be said that it’s black and black—people are justified and there is nothing wrong with it.

From the performance of Leeds City, it is indeed easy to doubt their future.

In fact, this is the characteristic of football-people will evaluate and predict you based on your previous results. After all, the results are real, and the results will not deceive people. So what kind of results you can get, you can get what evaluation.

Well behaved and praised. Was blown to the sky.

Behave badly and be criticized. Was scolded as a dog.

It's like after Leeds won the Premier League title last season. The media was full of praise for Clarke and praise for the entire Leeds City team.

Just looking at these media reports, you will definitely think that Tony Clark is the strongest coach in England-in fact, it is almost the same. With this league title, Clark won the official title of the Premier League coach of the season.

To be able to lead a team that was still in relegation last season to win the Premier League championship, if Clark is not competent, it must be no brainer.

So Clark must be exceptional.

However, in the praise after winning the championship, it feels like Clark is the perfect coach.

His passionate football style is also very popular, so no one cares about the back line like a sieve behind his passionate football style.

At that time, whether it was the people who praised Clarke or the people who read these praises with relish, how could it be possible that two months later, Clark was violently criticized?

This is true not only for coaches, but also for players. Naturally the team is even more so.

In football, there is no such thing as "sensible and objective", and there is no such thing as "fair evaluation".

Everyone's evaluation always drifts back and forth between one extreme and the other extreme. This is true for a season, a game, or even the first and second halves of a game. Be bluffed for good performance, scolded for bad performance.

So to enter the professional football circle, you must adapt to this environment.

Don't try to reason with the person who scolds yourself, saying innocent words like "You didn't say that at the beginning."

Hold back when you are scolded, and then try to make yourself behave well, so that those who scold yourself will turn their faces and praise. When you are praised, you should always be vigilant. Think about it as long as you don't play well in one game, you may turn from a darling to an outcast, in order to spur your progress.

Professional football is about sailing against the current. If you don't advance, you will retreat.

So Tony Clark ignored the critical voices in the media and the Internet.

He has no time to fight with the media, and he might as well spend all of his time in the team's tactical training.

A week later, the 2026-2027 season of the Premier League can be fully warfare.

※※※

On Saturday, August 15, 2026, the new Premier League season officially kicked off with the whistle of the newly promoted Ma Helmer's home game against Warship Harbor.

A day later, Leeds ushered in last season's seventh league Waldhampton at home.

Waldhampton was also promoted last season. They ended up in seventh place in the league, not only relegated early, they even almost had the opportunity to participate in the European war.

Being able to bring a promoted polo team to this height, with such results, Waldhampton’s Spanish coach Javier Tobella was selected as the official best coach of last season's five-man shortlist.

Although he did not defeat Clark to become the ultimate winner, it is enough to illustrate Tobella's level.

At the pre-match press conference, Tobella was still very low-key and polite: "I noticed the results of Leeds City during the pre-season training period. But I don’t think the results of the warm-up match can explain any problems... Mr. Tony Clark is The coach I respect very much has inspired me by bringing a relegation team to a league championship. For me, he is a role model and my goal..."

A reporter asked: "Mr. Torbella, do you want to lead Waldhampton to the championship?"

"Why not? Anyone can pursue their dreams." Tobella smiled slightly and appeared confident.

Although Torbella showed great respect for Leeds City and Clark in the pre-match press conference.

But when it comes to the game, he is not at all polite.

The away game Waldhampton played proactively and was very fierce.

Especially for Hu Lai.

Obviously he also drew inspiration from the Community Shield game where Manchester Athletic defeated Leeds.

In the first half alone, Hulay was fouled four times by Waldhampton players.

For a while, he couldn't even turn around in front of the penalty zone, let alone score a goal.

When Waldhampton's players compete with him, they will have some additional moves.

For example, after competing for the top, he didn't draw back his strength and directly rammed Hu Lai, knocking him to the ground.

The Premier League’s penalty scale for physical confrontation is relatively loose, which has just become an opportunity for them to "feed" when defending Hulai.

Of course, they also paid attention to a slight convergence in the penalty area, and the movement was not that big.

CCTV commentator He Feng lamented: "This is the price of becoming a World Cup Golden Boot... Hu Lai became the target of public criticism in the game. Everyone knows how glorious the World Cup top scorer is, but for his opponents, this is also a huge one. The temptation of tempting them to challenge Hu Lai continuously and want to knock him down, to prove that they are stronger than the World Cup Golden Boots..."

"Yes. Professional players are competitive and competitive. You don't even need to get the World Cup Golden Boots. Just last season's Premier League Golden Boots are enough to make defensive players... !" Yan Kang added next to him.

"Well, this is the path that any player who wants to become the top few of the world's football players must walk. There is no peak that can be easily reached, and there is no such thing as a superstar casually." He Feng encouraged Hu Lai even if he comforted the anxious fans in front of the TV.

As Hu Lai's reputation increases, as fans, they will certainly see similar scenes of today's game in the future.

So there is no need to scold the Waldhampton players, they are just doing what a defender should do.

The key is to adjust the mentality and realize that this degree of defense is actually a compliment and recognition of Hu Lai in a sense.

After all, when the two teams met last season, Hu Lai was not treated like this by his opponents.

※※※

"Craig is notoriously loose in terms of penalty... Asshole Tobella, his preparations are really thorough, and even the referee's penalty standards are considered..." Sam Randyll complained. "He knows that his players will not pay too much for doing this..."

"I'm not surprised," Clark said blankly, standing on the sidelines.

Ball Craig, the referee of the Premier League, is known for being a gentle referee in the Premier League. The penalty scale is very loose and he is stingy in playing cards.

His law enforcement games are often very smooth, and the number of interruptions is small, but it is also prone to controversy.

If one party does not pay attention to controlling his own feet, it is easy to arouse the anger of both parties. So the game looked more intense and exciting...

There was a harsh boo in the north stand of the Flanders Stadium.

David Miller and his friends raised their middle fingers and cursed at the same time: "Sparks, you bastard! You did it on purpose!!! You definitely did it on purpose!!"

Just now, when Hulay retraced to take the ball in the midfield, he was knocked to the ground by Waldhampton's midfielder Noah Sparks.

Although the referee Craig blew the whistle for a foul by Sparks, he did not play a card, just a verbal warning.

Although his face was serious when he warned and Sparks' attitude was very submissive, the Leeds City fans in the stands were not satisfied.

They think that at least a yellow card should be given.

But no. Craig has only shown a yellow card from the start of the game to the present. Although it is indeed a Waldhampton player, how can this satisfy the Leeds fans?

※※※

When Camara got the ball from the wing, the Waldhampton full-back came up and wanted to steal the ball, but he stabbed the football in with a quicker action, then jumped up and escaped the defense and scored. The restricted area of ​​Waldhampton!

Waldhampton's players suddenly reacted to the stress and rushed to Kamala.

After Camara attracted two defensive players, he suddenly passed the football.

It was given to Hu Lai who was in the middle of the restricted area.

Hu Lai slapped his foot to make a shot in response to the rolling football.

At the same time, Waldhampton's midfielder Noah Sparks ran back to the penalty area to help the defense. He saw Hu Lai about to shoot and rushed up quickly, trying to prevent Hu Lai from shooting.

Fortunately, Sparks knew that this was in his penalty area~www.novelmt.com~ so he still controlled his power, enough to interfere with Hulai, so that he could not shoot.

At the same time, it shouldn't make him fall.

Sparks just wanted to force Hulay to give up his intention to shoot. As long as he was forced to stop the football, he would lose the opportunity to shoot. Other Waldhampton players would be able to surround him and break his ball. The city's attack is over.

But just after he ran into it like this, Hu Lai leaned forward and fell to the ground very simply!

Sparks froze for a moment, and heard a crisp whistle break through the boo, and reach his ears...

The boos of Leeds City fans in the stands instantly changed to cheers!

"Penalty!! The referee decisively awarded a penalty!! Hu Lai was knocked down by Sparks in the penalty area. There is no problem with this penalty!!"

Sparks looked at Hu Lai who was lying on the ground, dumbfounded.

(End of this chapter)