At that time, he had just arrived in Harrington and in his first training session he told Sù Patrick that he needed to practice free kicks again, and when he was his age, he had better footwork than him. More than half a year later, the boys' free-kicks have really improved.

Nicholas thought sarcastically, perhaps this is called self-defeating. On the other hand, is Patrick his work? If the answer is yes, he should be proud, but why doesn't he feel that way at all?

Ousmane Dembele stood near the touchline in Everton's number 11 shirt and lifted his trousers, looking unfazed about his upcoming Premier League debut. The fourth official held up the sign and Everton made a substitution on 65 minutes.

Lu Ling looked over, and the French boy, who was also 19 years old, came on and replaced the right winger Deulofeu, who was a little lacking in body.

Goodison Park erupted in bursts of applause and cheers.

"What kind of debut will the 19-year-old supernova be the hero of France's European Championship victory? Commentator Martin Taylor's voice was clearly not as excited as Patrick's appearance.

Patrick glanced at it. It was the first time he played against a player of his age, who was also called a genius.

Ousmane Dembele was joined by Tom Cleverley, the England midfielder who replaced Oliver Torres.

Lu Ling soon noticed that Everton's tactics had changed: Tom Cleverley was further back than Oliver Torres, standing on the same line as Barry, forming a double midfield position, while Everton's overall formation voluntarily retracted and retreated to the vicinity of the penalty area. Is Nick going to give up some offensive initiative?

Bielsa was crouching on the sidelines (this is his habitual action), Lu Ling walked over and said in broken Spanish mixed with English: "Boss, they are very deep. ”

Bielsa replied simply, in Spanish mixed with English: "Si (yes), soweattack (then we attack)." ”

For the first time in this game, QPR launched a tidal succession of attacks. Yu Zixiang and John O'Connor were both given crosses, Sebastian Poulder had a dangerous header down the middle, and Matt Phillips' long-range shot was blocked by the crowd.

But Patrick-Amber's space was restricted, with Barry and Cleverley jamming the space on his side, and Nicholas' adjustments made it easier for Patrick to catch the ball. For a while, the other players of QPR also had a hard time getting the ball to his feet.

Yu Zixiang went down again, but his cross was intercepted by Everton centre-back John Stones. Stones then coolly sent a ball to the ball at the back of the pitch to the feet of Ousmane Dembele on his right, where the 19-year-old Frenchman was near the halfway line, close to the touchline.

Dembele took the ball right in front of Lu Ling and Bielsa. Therefore, when Lu Ling saw him move like a wind, he was shocked. Even though she's seen a lot of his footage before, and even watched France live at the Euros, the visual stunt when he's five metres in front of you is extraordinary.

Dembele's quick start went straight past QPR's pounced midfielder Ian Parker and then dribbled the ball at high speed along the touchline. His dribbling is extremely light and explosive.

QPR's centre-back Steven Cork also pounced, but Dembele did not hesitate to change direction at a quick angle, and the 19-year-old, after making a nearly 90-degree change of direction, barely paused, and directly maintained his original pace and slammed towards the penalty area.

Lu Ling frowned, this child's physical talent is indeed domineering.

Dembele faced Nedham Onoha and fired a left-footed shot from 30 yards out. The ball was so powerful that Robert Green pounced sideways with all his might, blocking the ball with his fingertips.

Cleverley then whipped in a corner from the right, Everton centre-forward Romelu Lukaku leaped high to head the ball on, and Barkley stabbed it into the back of the net.

Everton went ahead again.

Marcelo Bielsa's face was pale, and he stood up and squatted at one moment.

Lu Ling was a little anxious, she took the interpreter to the sidelines, and then told the translator: "I think we should adjust the formation." The current three central defenders, Zixiang and John have gone up too much, the central defenders are not used to it, and it is too easy to be attacked when defending. We need to be solid at the back first. It's better to change to a habitual back four, and let Zixiang and John become fullbacks again. ”

Bielsa shook his head, "No, no. we are behind now, we must ensure the number of attackers in the frontcourt, Zixiang and John continue to move forward." But I'm going to change someone. ”

After saying that, the Argentine turned around and called midfielder Daniel Torger, who had been warming up for half a day, to replace Steven Caurke, who had been in the game for a long time. He then returned to the touchline and shouted loudly, gesturing for Ian Parker to play at central defender and Nedham Onuoha to play at left wing-back. The formation is still 3331.

Lu Ling was stunned for a moment, and Ian went to play the central defender after dragging, which is a style of play that Nick also used. But she always thinks Ian's greatest talent is at the back.

After scoring, Everton began to launch a wave of attack, Nicholas is by no means a manager who will defend to the end at home, and the retreat just now is only a temporary strategy. QPR is a bit overwhelmed.

Ousmane Dembele received a lot of applause from the home fans for his handling of the ball, not only with a good disc, but also with a good pass, and he was able to play both right and left.

Patrick is also a bipedal player.

It's true that players with both feet are rare in football, and if they do, they will have more options when handling the ball and will be less likely to be targeted. Patrick is not the same type as Dembele, Dembele is almost the same on his left and right feet, but Patrick's preferred foot is the left foot, and the right foot is not used so much.

At the same time, Barkley also tested Robert Green with a long-range shot.

QPR finally broke the ball, but Everton did not retreat this time, but pressed in front of the whole team, trying to create a mistake at the back of QPR. Nicolas wanted to finish the game with a third goal.

Ian Parker received a return pass from Mensah and was immediately under pressure, with Lukaku's massive body rushing over like a tank to try to interfere with Ian's delivery.

But that's when the Scottish boy's advantage came into play, as he handled the ball more calmly under pressure than the average defender. Instead of blindly kicking the ball wide, he flicked the ball to the side and then took the ball away from the box as Lukaku pounced.

Immediately after, Ian made a through ball that was close to the ground, and the ball flew to Patrick's feet.

The ball was fast to prevent his opponent from intercepting, but Patrick's foot caught the ball like a magnet and quickly turned. In front of him is Cleverley, and behind Cleverley is Barry's protection.

Nicolas shouted from the sidelines: "Leave him alone, take care of the others!" The Spaniard did not want his defence to be confused by Patrick and have a previous hole.

Patrick continued to take two steps slowly, and Cleverley kept his distance and slowly retreated, not going up. Everton's formation was kept very tight.

But Patrick suddenly picked up speed, and like a catfish, he slid past Cleverley's side in two steps.

Barry, who had already made a stoppage, had already put his foot out, Patrick quickly touched the ball with his left foot, stepped forward with his right foot, and a "croquette" (Iniesta's classic dribble) got past Barry and continued to accelerate forward.

Looking at the rushing QPR7, Everton centre-back Mori hesitated a little, should he go up or not? The ball flies towards the top corner of the goal.

Hoel Robles jumped up and stretched out his arms without touching the ball. But with a "bang", the ball hit the crossbar and bounced.

Patrick Amber failed to score with a solo breakthrough shot from the front of the middle. Bielsa sat on the floor on the sidelines.

Lu Ling turned around, there won't be too many chances for QPR, and this time luck was not on their side.

In the final ten minutes of the game, QPR still tried to attack from Ian, but Patrick's receiving route was also blocked by Ross Barkley, and it was also Nicholas who adjusted. Ian could only go to the flanks to Yu Zixiang and John O'Connor. But the two men also received the siege immediately. The ball never came out of the half.

If QPR opted for a long pass, the two wingers and the centre-forward almost all failed to catch the ball. Everton have completely blocked the forward line of the QPR. And when Everton attacked, Ousmane Dembele's surprise left Nedham and Yu Zixiang's side exhausted.

In the end, QPR failed to create any more decent opportunities.

They lost 2-1 away to Everton.

To make matters worse, Ian suffered a thigh strain after a collision with Dembele before the end.

Nicolás shook hands with Bielsa, a little absent-minded, he crossed the Argentine's shoulder and did not see his girl. Maybe she's back in the locker room, he thought.

Rose exchanged jerseys with Patrick and hugged him, Rose tried to comfort him, but Pat didn't seem to want to say anything superfluous, and he kept his mouth shut. Naturally, Ross was in a good mood as he raised his hands above his head to thank the home fans.

Patrick grimaced as he walked towards the tunnel, and as he was about to get out of the touchline, Nicholas took two steps to his side, as if to shake hands. He held out his hand and shook his hand, and the Spaniard patted him on the shoulder, smiling, "Patrick, what do you think of the Ottomans? ”

Is it a provocation? It's not like it, it's just asking and curious. Patrick stared at the Everton boss and said nonchalantly, "He's not my enemy. ”

Nicholas's brow moved. After a second or two, the two staggered their gaze.

Patrick walked into the tunnel while Nicholas continued to shake hands and hug his Everton players on the sidelines.

Lu Ling received a call from Nick on the bus back. She sat in the last row, a little tired, a little sleepy, and more depressed.

"Babe, are you back in London?"

"Yes. ”

"I would have liked you to stay at Liverpool tonight. ”

"Not tonight, I'm not in the mood. ”

"I waited a week. ”

'The team lost and I have to stay with my players. ”

"Call me when you're home?"

"Good. ”

Lu Ling hung up the phone and fell asleep against the window. No one likes to lose.

Patrick sat next to her, and her head swayed and nearly fell to his shoulder several times. The boy tilted his head, he wanted to kiss her, but he knew he couldn't.