Chapter 14 Lao Lei’s strategy

While retaining many players from the previous Premier League season, Queens Park Rangers showed amazing strength at the beginning of the season and have remained in second place in the standings.

But as the game progressed, the problem of the team's shallow bench was exposed.

With many main players injured, the team only achieved 5 wins, 5 draws and 4 losses in 14 games at the halfway point of the schedule. It was overtaken by the Burnley team behind them and ranked third in the standings.

Then in the four games in February this year, the team had 1 draw and 3 losses. Not only was it lagging behind Burnley by a huge margin, but it was also only 1 point behind Derby County.

Nowadays, the situation in the English Championship is very clear. The top two have basically determined the two Premier League places. The competition between the 3rd and 8th places is fierce, and they may fall out of the top spot at any time.

What lies before the old coach Redknapp is a heavy task.

However, the return of main forward Austin makes the lineup very complete.

Leicester City's Vardy happened to be injured.

The so-called taking advantage of your illness is to kill you.

The players of Queens Park Rangers are very confident about this game.

Facing the menacing opponent, Leicester City was not to be outdone, and lined up a trident combination of Conoket, Nugent and Mahrez on the front line.

The home fans also built up momentum. Half an hour before the start of the game, the sky above the King Power Stadium was already echoing with bursts of singing.

Rossi came to the home court for the first time. During the warm-up, he could faintly hear the fans shouting his name.

The feeling at home is just different.

Now is the critical moment to win the championship. In order to make the game more fair and fierce, the English Football Association has held Burnley's game at another venue at the same time.

Queens Park Rangers played away from home and played relatively steadily. The five-back system limited Leicester City's attack on both wings.

The defensive chain of the three midfielders can also block passes from the center of Leicester City very well. After intercepting the ball, it can seize the gap in time and launch a quick counterattack.

Leicester City, playing at home, decisively broke through to both wings with the help of Nugent in the middle.

At the same time, the midfielder boldly pressed forward and counterattacked, continuing to put pressure on Queens Park Rangers.

Facing a highly respected coach in the Premier League, Pearson decisively took the offensive. While both wings were flying together, Drinkwater and Schlupp boldly inserted themselves into the opponent's flanks, posing a threat.

At the beginning of the game, Leicester City launched three threatening attacks in just ten minutes, making the opponent's goalkeeper the busiest person.

There was a turmoil on the court, but Lao Lei was unusually calm off the court.

Since he took charge, he has injected tenacity and calmness into the team, a temperament that does not change even when the mountain collapses in front of him. The three lines of defense in the team's midfield and backcourt work together to ensure the stability of the rear.

Lao Lei also calmly observed the situation on the field.

In the last game, Pearson used Vardy to confuse the Reading team, making them afraid to press hard.

Nowadays, this trick is of no use, and one can only use offense instead of defense.

As he analyzed before, although Leicester City is missing Vardy, the team's forward line has not been completely weakened, and it still has sufficient offensive power.

Moreover, the two midfielders running forward have speed and long-range shooting, so they must not be underestimated.

Lao Lei believes that the defensive approach in the first half consumes the opponent's physical strength and fighting spirit. The real key to victory or defeat lies in the last 15 minutes.

A draw is acceptable for them, but it puts a lot of pressure on Leicester City.

Because on the other side of the court, Burnley scored in just five minutes.

If it ends with this score, the gap between the two sides in the standings will be narrowed to 3 points. For Leicester City, the situation behind will be quite serious.

Redknapp seized on Pearson's mentality and made slight changes to the formation, leaving only Benayoun and Austin on the front line, inducing Leicester City to attack boldly.

In the 30th minute, after Nugent's header was confiscated by goalkeeper Green, Queens Park Rangers immediately launched a quick counterattack.

Different from Leicester City's simple pass, Lao Lei's players use passing control to increase the overall counterattack speed.

The high-speed insertion of the two wing-backs makes it easy to form a situation where more people beat less during counterattacks.

Not only that, the two midfielders of Queens Park Rangers, Kranjca and Gary O'Neill, are both offensive and defensive players, and have good long-range shooting ability from outside the penalty area.

Once a counterattack is formed, breakthroughs from the wing and long shots from the center can all become weapons for scoring goals.

Realizing that he had been caught in a trap, Pearson jumped up from the bench and loudly ordered the players to return to defense.

The large gap behind Drinkwater and Schlupp was instantly stabbed by their opponents.

For Kranjca's advance with the ball, Leicester City midfielder Andy King must step forward to block it and delay the attack.

But the opponent was one step faster and passed the ball into Leicester City's rib space, instantly forming a 5-on-4 situation.

It was Benayoun who dropped back to receive the ball.

This star who has played for three top clubs, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal, although he does not have a speed advantage, he has delicate skills with his feet, good passing and receiving ability, and a wide range of activities.

He can swing behind center Austin to provide more support.

Hammond, another midfielder of Leicester City, hurriedly stepped forward to block the attack, delaying the attack and allowing his teammates to return to defense in time.

The defense is also slowly retreating to prevent the two wingers from inserting into the gap behind them.

Captain Morgan directed his teammates to commit offside to limit Austin's catch and shoot.

While dribbling the ball, Benayoun observed the positions of his teammates and opponents. Facing the advancing Hammond, he suddenly accelerated and broke through to the left.

Hammond, who was defending sideways, followed up in time. He knew in his heart that he must prevent his opponent from breaking through, and he was very confident that he would not lose to his opponent in terms of speed.

After Benayoun took three steps, the rhythm suddenly changed, his body stopped, and he dunked the ball to the left.

Hammond, who was following closely, did not lose his position. He immediately turned his hips and turned around to block the ball.

But just when he blocked the angle, Benayoun flicked the ball to the left with the outside of his right foot. Hammond was caught off guard and had no time to change his body direction, so he could only sweep the ball with his right foot.

But Benayoun gently lifted the ball, just in time to avoid Hammond's legs, rolled to the left, and then dodged past Hammond.

Oops!

This breakthrough instantly raised the hearts of the home fans to their throats. Austin was already observing the defensive position and preparing to counter offside. The only one who could stop Benayoun was captain Morgan.

Fortunately, when Benayoun got the ball, Morgan directed the defense to create an offside, so that he did not dare to pass the ball easily. He lifted himself up, allowing his teammates to move in and help defend Austin behind him.

It was this small step that allowed Morgan to grab the ball in time and destroy the ball with his big foot after his teammates were broken through the defense.

The home fans, who were in a false alarm, breathed a long sigh of relief and applauded their captain.

After this counterattack, Pearson no longer dared to press forward rashly. He knew that he had already lost due to the layout before the start of the game.

Lao Lei is indeed coaching a Premier League team, and his tactics are very targeted.

Now we can only rely on the three substitutions on hand to adjust.
Chapter completed!