The Midfield Master

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Everton beat Southampton 3-0 in an away game. This unexpected victory made the media that bad-mouthed Everton before the game suddenly dumbfounded. Originally, they thought about making critical remarks after Everton lost, but now they find that these remarks are no longer applicable.

But they were still able to find another argument, that is, Xia Ze did nothing again during the 20 minutes he came off the bench. Although the team no longer needed him to do anything at that time, the media still questioned Xia Ze.

In addition to the British media, the Chinese media made the most noise. Several media outlets even broke the "insider story", saying that Xia Ze's own strength is not enough to gain a foothold in Everton, and that it is because some people in China have made it through commercial operations. Let him have so many opportunities to play.

Of course, the remarks of these media did not even splash a little water. After all, Xia Ze's performance in the Portuguese Super League and the second half of last season in the Premier League is obvious to all, not to mention his outstanding performance in the national team.

However, these remarks reminded Xia Ze that if the situation did not improve, the pressure from all parties would only increase.

He must show a good enough state to be able to block the mouths of these media.

When returning to the training base on Monday, Xia Ze took the initiative to talk to the head coach Martinez.

"Coach, I think I'm ready, I can start again in the next game!"

When Xia Ze spoke, his eyes were determined and his words were full of confidence.

Although taking the initiative to find the head coach for a starting position, this is a relatively taboo thing in football. But Xia Ze felt that he should work hard for it. Although the state of the first few games was not good, he worked hard enough in training and performed well enough. He believes that the head coach can see this.

"Huh?" Martinez was obviously a little surprised, and he didn't expect Xia Ze to take the initiative to ask for a fight.

But after thinking about it for a while, he understood what was going on, and said, "Xia Ze, I just want to tell you that you will start the next game."

"But coach... what!" Xia Ze originally wanted to continue to challenge, but he didn't expect that Martinez would have already arranged for him to start the next game, which caught him off guard.

"That's right, you will start the next game against Ajax at home." Martinez looked into Xia Ze's eyes and said, "It wasn't because of you that you sat on the bench in last Saturday's game. Your strength is not good, not because your training is not good enough, but because of tactical arrangements.

"

Without waiting for Xia Ze to speak, he continued: "And for Thursday's game, you need to use 100% effort to prove to the world that you are still the omnipotent Xia Ze. I believe you can do it."

Martinez's two short sentences have completely stunned Xia Ze.

What the hell is going on here? I thought I would take the initiative to ask for a fight at a great risk, but after only one sentence, Martinez said that he had already arranged for him to start the game.

This made Xia Ze's prepared speeches useless.

"This... Coach, I will work hard!" Xia Ze came back to his senses and finally understood what Martinez meant. After replying with sword intent, he devoted himself to training.

After Xia Ze left, assistant coach Jones walked over and said, "Roberto, is this really okay?"

"No problem. It's normal for young people to have ups and downs. Although we won 3-0 in the last game, we didn't win with the offensive tactics of daily training, but with strategy. After holding Xia Ze for a game, Thursday's I believe he can perform well in the game." Martinez looked at Xia Ze's running figure and said confidently.

After receiving Martinez's promise, Xia Ze became more involved in training.

Time soon came to August 20th, on Thursday, Everton will face the Eredivisie powerhouse Ajax at home.

These two rounds of the Europa League play-offs will determine which team can enter the Europa League main match and continue to advance in the European war.

The eliminated teams can only end their European journey early this season and concentrate on returning to the domestic league competition.

Ajax Football Club, founded in 1900, already has a history of more than a hundred years. It is also known as the top three in the Eredivisie along with Eindhoven and Feyenoord.

In the team's more than 100-year history, they have won 33 league championships, 18 Dutch Cup championships, 4 Champions League championships and 1 UEFA Cup championship.

Having so many honors shows the glory of Ajax's history.

And their team history has also produced a large number of talents, such as Cruyff, Van Basten, Van der Sar and other famous stars in the history of world football, all came from the Ajax youth training.

Although Ajax's performance in the European arena in recent years has not been ideal, but with their solid youth training background, their strength cannot be underestimated by any team.

Ajax is now coached by legendary Dutch defender Frank De Boer. Since becoming the head coach of Ajax in 2010, the former main central defender of the Dutch national team has led the team to four consecutive league championships. Only last season was PSV Eindhoven's record of consecutive championships ended.

And there are many Dutch internationals in their team, such as goalkeeper Cillesen who made a big splash in last year's World Cup. The core midfielder Klaassen, whose strength and potential cannot be ignored, is considered to be the core midfielder candidate for the next generation of the Dutch national team.

With the rise of so many young talents, although the Dutch national team is struggling in the European Cup qualifiers, people are optimistic about the future prospects of Ajax.

So even though this Europa League play-off was played on a weekday night, the Goodison Park Stadium, which can accommodate 40,000 people, was still full of seats.

Many fans rush to the stadium after get off work, buy some food on the way, or fill their stomachs at the food store outside the stadium, and then enter the stadium to watch the game.

Tonight in Liverpool, in addition to the Everton game, another team, Liverpool, will also have a Europa League match. However, in the play-offs they played first away and then home, so fans of the two teams will not meet in the street.

The streets of Liverpool tonight are shrouded in blue ocean.

Xia Ze returned to the starting lineup, which is exciting news for Everton fans. Although the team won the away game 3-0 in the last game, the fans still hope to see wonderful offensive football at home.

And Xia Ze's performance in the second half of last season gave Everton fans enough confidence to make them feel that Xia Ze is the player who can make the team's offense stronger. c