The mobile phone on the table shook, and Lu Ling glanced down at it, it was a message from Patrick back.

[That's something for the coach to think about, it's the same for me to meet any opponent. But if my assumption comes true, doesn't that mean Pep and Jose are going to play again? 】

She was holding her breath in her chest, but she smiled after reading it. Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho, from the Champions League to La Liga to the Premier League, both have left the Premier League until now...... If this can be met, Lu Ling really doesn't know what kind of karma this is.

Or, it's not karma at all, it's just a coincidence, it's just a matter of probability.

Even, because it involves artificial lottery, this is actually ...... UEFA arrangement.

She had no way of knowing.

Tim knocked on the door of his office. Lu Ling turned his head, said hello to him, and then threw a document over. is a report of some data from the previous game.

Tim flipped through it, he had seen it before, and he asked, "What's wrong?" I remember nothing special. ”

"Tim, what do you think is the biggest problem for the team right now?"

"You've been thinking about this?" asked Tim, who hesitated when he heard her hang up angrily in the hallway, "I think the team is a lot more mature in the league than it used to be, and the recent results have proven that...... Honestly, Christine, I think our biggest problem is that we don't have a superstar like Patrick. For example, we will face the knockout stages of the Champions League after that. The knockout stage of the cup is a different field, and a moment will decide everything. In the league, losing is far from the end of the world, and keeping the lower limit is competitive. ”

"What you want to say is that our lower limit is high enough, but the upper limit is not high enough?" Lu Ling already agreed with this point of view in her heart, and she herself had similar feelings.

'Perhaps, although we have beaten Everton in the league and Manchester City last season, it's hard to say how far we can go in the Champions League. Tim walked over and suddenly smiled, "So, Christine, you're really thinking about our next possible opponent." May I ask you a question?"

"You want to ask me if I want to touch Barcelona or Everton if I make it to the quarter-finals?"

"The answer?"

Lu Ling stared at the phone screen and thought for a few seconds. Tim once said that Nick is her fateful opponent, and if there is really a so-called fateful opponent, then she may have two fateful opponents now.

She raised her head and said slowly: "Mathematically speaking, if we get to the quarter-finals, and Barcelona and Everton also make it to the quarter-finals, we have a 1 in 7 chance of meeting them. In terms of the overall quality of the squad, Everton could be more difficult to do. However, I always thought that if we met Barcelona, maybe Pat would be able to destroy our defence, not to mention Messi and Neymar. Maybe in the first leg we lost hope of qualifying. You know, like the way Pat did against Manchester City last season, or the way he played against Brazil at the World Cup, as a manager, there's a little bit of nothing you can do...... And we have neither Neymar nor Gabriel Jesus. ”

"Have you ever thought about how to restrain Patrick?"

"Thought. ”

"How?"

Lu Ling didn't answer Tim's question, she continued: "But I haven't seen Nick's ability to play a two-round knockout match. ”

"So which one do you choose?"

"Which one do you choose?" Lu Ling threw the question back.

'I go with Everton. After all, it is better understood. Tim probably thought the topic was a bit ridiculous, and added, "But maybe UEFA will give us Real Madrid or Bayern...... And, like you said, the odds are 1 in 7, and I really want to have an opponent that's a little bit weaker than all of these teams. Provided, of course, that we take out Sporting first. ”

"We will, we have to get rid of it. After she said this, the message was also sent.

We won't always meet what we want to meet, and we won't always meet what we don't want to meet. Ah, as we always say, karma is a bitch (that's a colloquial saying), and of course, UEFA is too. ）】

"But you still haven't answered me, which one do you choose?" said Tim.

'Of course I want to play against the weakest opponent because I want to go further in the Champions League. But you're definitely not happy with this answer. So, I choose Barcelona or Real Madrid. ”

'I'm asking about Barcelona or Everton. ”

'Everton always meet in the league but I want to play against teams with players like Messi, Ronaldo, Patrick and Neymar. ”

"So Barcelona? ”

"Why should I be emotionally involved? We're talking about football. Lu Ling put down his phone and smiled at the teaching assistant, "By the way, you came to ask me to continue the meeting, right?"

"Yes. Tim almost forgot, "Monch is still waiting for us." ”

"Let's go. She glanced at her phone again as she left. In fact, she knew that Nick wouldn't call again, at least not tonight.

How could he miss her so much?

So many eye contacts, such a strong chemical reaction, she thought it was tacit, but she didn't want him to misunderstand.

Just like when you broke up.

****

There was also a Premier League fixture on the night of the Champions League draw, the final of the round of 15, and the result was somewhat surprising – Arsenal, who had previously topped the table, lost 2-1 at home to Manchester City.

In fact, it is not surprising that although Manchester City has had some ups and downs in the past period, Sampaoli is an outstanding coach after all. When Lu Ling watched this game, he was thinking that Sampaoli was putting his mark on Manchester City. Now they are in fourth place, clinging to the three teams in front of them.

Manchester City will be QPR's opponents on Boxing Day (26 December) and Lu Ling has already asked his assistants to study the new style of play that Sampaoli has brought this season. It's going to be a tough game, no easier than Everton or Arsenal.

And Manchester City's defeat to Arsenal is equivalent to helping Nicholas and Lu Ling - Everton and QPR have overtaken Arsenal and risen to first and second. Originally, these three teams were biting very tightly, and one game would change the order of the rankings.

****

The Premier League enters a busy schedule of two fixtures in a week. QPR's opponents on Wednesday were Southampton, who were a bit slow in the first half but scored three goals in the second half thanks to three goals from León, Claudio and Mitsu Batshuayi to win 3-1 away.

In this way, QPR has won 10 consecutive wins in the Premier League and has become the hottest team in the whole of Europe.

Despite this, the Nerazza were unable to climb to the top of the table as Everton narrowly beat Crystal Palace 2-1 to keep them in the lead. However, in this game, Everton lost Jimenez and Dembele due to injury.

This is good news for QPR. Everton play Manchester City at the weekend and it is a good chance for them to move up to the top of the table.

The final round of the Premier League before Christmas, the round of 17, arrived as scheduled.

In Saturday's game, QPR travelled to Turf Moore to take on Burnley, an old rival who had been playing since their Championship days, Shaun Dyche.

With they also having to meet Manchester City in four days' time, the QPR had reservations and ended up winning 1-0. Ian broke the deadlock in the second half and although there was some shock in the final moments, the team did not concede a goal.

In this way, Lu Ling can breathe a sigh of relief and sit back and enjoy the battle between Everton and Manchester City.

The two teams really staged a hard-fought battle. Under Argentinian Sampaoli, this season's Manchester City are no longer as urbane as they were in the Pep Guardiola era, but full of South American wildness, which is also very suitable for the play of the number one star Gabriel Jesus.

In the end, Everton and Manchester City drew 2-2. In the absence of two big players, Nicolas almost managed to hold on to a victory, but City scored the equaliser in the 82nd minute.

And, in the last minute, Everton's right-back Norwood was also sent off with a red card. It has to be said that Nick Flores has had a lot of bad luck lately.

The Spaniard was in a very bad mood after the game, saying directly in the interview: "Christmas is coming and I don't want to criticize anyone, but the emergence of this situation today is an insult to the fans who enthusiastically supported us at Goodison Park today." Recently, we have been experiencing this kind of injustice in a row, and I think everyone can see it. ”

Lu Ling only glanced at Nick's post-game interview and turned it off, such remarks, I'm afraid that Nick Boxing Day will be in the stands.

She poured herself a glass of red wine, as QPR finally reached the top of the list before Christmas.

She toasted herself in the empty office and to the Christmas tree in the corner with Christmas balls and lights.

Harrington's staff were so welcoming, she said plastic was fine, and they brought her a lively Christmas tree. It's a pity that the regeneration is full of energy, and it will wither not long after Christmas.

After this round, many news stories were headlined with sentences like "Flores gave up the Christmas title to Lu".

But this "Christmas Champion" is not really an honorary title. Last season, QPR won this damn Christmas championship as well, and it didn't make any sense.

Now Lu Ling's focus has shifted to the next game, the crucial game against Manchester City.

It will be her first meeting with Argentinian Sampaoli – and it's extremely exciting. She loves to meet new opponents, and she's eager to beat the South American ace.

This is all the more interesting considering that both men have experience studying under Bielsa.

****

December 25th.

West London was windy, overcast, and icy raindrops fell on the training ground. Lu Ling looked at the table below, it was only two o'clock. But it was already dark.

She was very satisfied with the training sessions in the past few days, and today is Christmas, and she doesn't give too much intensity. It's almost time. She wished all the players and coaching staff a Merry Christmas and a good Christmas night. Finally, she ended the day's training session with a "Don't overeat!"

Tim left a little later than everyone else, and there were some tactical details they discussed again. Before leaving, the assistant coach asked the coach, "Are you going to Patrick's house for Christmas this year as you did in previous years?"

Lu Ling looked at the tactics board, recalling the details of Manchester City's last game against Everton, and didn't pay attention to Tim's words.

Tim had already walked to the door, when he turned around and asked again.

Lu Ling slowly turned around and shrugged his shoulders, "I haven't decided yet, what's wrong?"

In fact, Anna invited her very early. Jack and Lucy also called to invite her last week. The winter break in La Liga has begun, and Patrick, who returned to London this morning, also called her and invited her to "Christmas dinner at Amber's house".

However, it will be embarrassing.

So the answer she gave was that she would be working late tonight, and she would come over if she had time, but she certainly wouldn't have to wait for dinner.

Later, Pat sent her another message:

[You didn't even ask where it was...... It's still across the street from your house. Because I'm too lazy to move, I'm not ready to sell. 】

The sign across from her house was gone, and she guessed that it was either not sold or sold, but it turned out to be the former. She later replied to him:

[I promise I'll say hello when I get home, if you haven't slept.] Have a nice Christmas dinner!]

She slipped her phone into the pocket of her coat.

"If you don't want to go to Amber's house, you can go to our house. Monica is a great cook, you haven't tried it yet. Tim's voice came.

"Thanks, Tim. Lu Ling smiled slightly, "But I'll really be working late today." Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas! See you tomorrow. ”

****

Gabriel Jesus has continued to shine in the Premier League this season. However, it has to be said that Leon stole a lot of the limelight from him. These two South American attackers, if you have to compare......

In fact, it is not easy to compare, Leon is a bit like Suarez in Liverpool's last season, but not as mature as Suarez at that time. And Jesus ...... Which Brazilian star in history is he like?

Lu Ling looked out the window, the headlights of the stadium were on, and under the headlights, he could faintly see that the rain was getting heavier and heavier outside. Looking at the slope of the rain, it is expected that the wind is not small. Suddenly, the headlights turned off.

Lu Ling's thoughts also stopped abruptly for a few seconds. Oh, she thought, the stadium keeper was off duty too.

Maybe she's the only one left in Harrington.

It was pitch black outside the window. She could see herself clearly through the floor-to-ceiling windows. She stared at it for a few seconds, then pulled down the curtain with the remote control.

The space becomes cramped.

When it's storming outside the window, and you're in a small, cozy, quiet space, thinking becomes a great pleasure.

If you think of football as a math problem, it's interesting.

What the manager needs to do is build a style of play with the highest success rate. From the point of view of a game, this style of play should create as many offensive opportunities as possible and reduce the opponent's chances. Judging from 100 games, this style of play is to win as many games as possible.

Football critics say that Christine studied under Flores and Bielsa, and that her style of play is Latinized and that she is Latin. It is also said that Christine has been with Flores for less than a year, and Bielsa has only been with her for three months, she has no genre, she is learning from Pep Guardiola, and José Mourinho, playing against Italian coaches, and continuing to study, she is a learner. Others say that Christine likes to watch "The Art of War" and that she is perfecting her football tactics with 36 strategies.

It all seems to make sense, and it doesn't seem to make sense.

But they never said she was an English coach. Although if you carefully study the 100 games she has played, you will find that she has never abandoned two points of English football:

First, the speed of the wings.

Second, the role of long passing.

They had talked about it since she had met Nick. By the way, it's his birthday, perhaps, later......

There was a sound of footsteps in the corridor, and Lu Ling moved Yu Zixiang's position on the tactical board from the back to the front.

"Oh, Tim, you're back...... I said, I'm not going to ......" Lu Ling turned her head, her mouth was half-open, she didn't expect it to be him.

"Merry Christmas, Christine. Nicholas was half covered in the rain, his hair was wet, and there was a helpless smile in his deep eyes. 166 Reading Network