"Mr. Flores, what would you say of your new assistant coach, Kristen Lu?"

Nicholas looked at the reporter who was asking the question, the public face, a little sloppy, he just said which media is he from? by the way, the Daily Mail.

He answered the question with a smile, "Christine is a very hard working coach and she understands my football philosophy. He spoke so quickly that it was difficult for reporters to tell how true his words were.

Soon, the next question came up. And the question is still about the beautiful female teaching assistant.

"Hello Mr. Flores, I'm Jimmy Cooper, a reporter for The Sun. Did you know Kristen Lu before, and if not, why did she win your trust in just a few days?" The reporter, who claimed to be from The Sun, was a little chubby and wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses in the back row.

Nicholas' face grew impatient and disgusted. He knew that the appointment was bound to attract so much attention, and he also knew that all the side-kicking of these reporters had nothing to do with her gender.

"This is the fourth question about my assistant coach. The Spaniard shook his head as he spoke, "No, I didn't know her before, I already said it, she understands me—is that a difficult sentence for you to understand?" Mr. Cooper. ”

Jimmy Cooper was stunned for a moment, and soon, he continued, "It's a simple sentence, but I mean ......"

Nicholas interrupted him, "Since everyone here understands, please don't waste each other's time any more. Next question. ”

The pre-match press conference ended quickly and Nicholas left his seat. The rest of the reporters were either tapping quickly on the keyboard or whispering about the temper of the new QPR coach – which didn't seem so good.

********

At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the training ended. The players walked to the dressing room in twos and threes.

Lu Ling and Nicholas were discussing something side by side.

Nicholas in working condition is not so annoying. He's serious, he's rigorous, and he doesn't hold your head high and have to be respectful. Most importantly, his understanding of football is to her taste.

It was difficult for Lu Ling to tell what genre he was. The reason is also very simple, she has not studied under any master. She thought, but unfortunately she didn't have that opportunity. The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Germany, Brazil, Argentina – all have their own football philosophies and have produced many master tacticians. She's studied them all.

Oh, and there's one more, soccer. For Lu Ling, it's really difficult. As much as she spits on the bad roots of soccer, fuck, she has her obsession with soccer.

Nicholas pouted, "English football?" I thought you had better taste than that. In my opinion, their philosophy is useless. ”

"Yes, soccer is very backward. But is it useless? So how did Mr. Alex Ferguson succeed? Two Champions Leagues, very convincing, isn't it?" Lu Ling grew up in this soil, and he also grew up watching the English league. She was willing to admit the flaws of English football, but she didn't like the completely negative attitude that Nicholas held.

"Did Mr. Alex Ferguson win the Champions League twice with a completely active style of play?"

"So, Mr. Flores, didn't you also set up a double-decker bus in the last game? I thought you agreed with me, football is round, and it is naturally good to attack, but there is nothing wrong with choosing a containment style of play. ”

The manager paused and mocked his assistant mercilessly, "Oh, are we talking about idealism and pragmatism? ”

Lu Ling also stopped. She looked at him, unable to believe that her previous impression of him had improved. That's right, he is controlling, narcissistic, and arrogant, and her judgment is not wrong at all. Thankfully, she was a bit adventurous and had a good eye for hiring her as a teaching assistant.

I am not as strong as I am, I am not as narcissistic, I am as arrogant, adventurous, and have a good vision. Nicholas thought, isn't choosing such a teaching assistant a landmine for himself?

Both of them stared at each other, no one said a word, but George came over and asked Yu Zixiang a question to break the silence.

Yu Zixiang also trained with the first team today. In Nicholas's plan, this child is going to gradually replace James.

As for Patrick, they never wanted to keep him in the backfield - the last game was not a substitution at all, Patrick's talent must have been in attack.

It wasn't until more than ten o'clock that night that the two finally finalized the starting list together.

The change in formation told the players as early as the training session that tomorrow they will play 4231 and no longer use a back three. And the starting 11 also changed one. They took out the in-form right winger Matt Phillips and brought on Patrick Amber.

Lu Ling threw away the marker and sat on the sofa, she studied with this person all night, and her waist was about to break. Nicholas didn't look at her either, and while writing and drawing on the tactical board, he said in a very fast voice, "After more than this month, I hope to bring in a central defender in the winter, Clint Hill is too old." If the organizers are delayed, it will be difficult to bring in good candidates in the winter window. As for the midfield, Ian in the reserve team may be able to use it. By the way, does Charlie want to go?"

"That's right. She answered with her eyes closed.

"Miss Lu, are you asleep?"

Lu Ling opened his eyes suddenly, "No." ”

Nicholas glanced at her impatiently, "Christine, if you're not ready for high-intensity work, then you're not qualified to be my assistant." He said as he stared at the board with his arms folded as if nothing had happened.

“…… Sorry, boss. There won't be a next time, I promise. Lu Ling straightened up and didn't make excuses for himself.

Nicholas stared at the tactical board as if he hadn't heard. After a while, convinced that he had missed nothing, he turned and walked to the door, picking up the trench coat and scarf from the hanger.

"Let's go. He said.

Lu Ling was still staring at the tactical board, and didn't react, "Where are you going?"

"Go home. Nicholas stood by the door and looked at his assistant, looking very tired.

******

Saturday at 3pm, Loftus Road, London. Light rain, average temperature 9 ° C.

In the pre-game warm-up, Nicholas did not come out, only Lu Ling and George came out together. Lu Ling's dress is not much different from that of a player, but she also wears a down jacket outside.

She walked up to Patrick after stressing the distance with a couple of defenders. Patrick is practicing his shots, which Nicholas has told him repeatedly over the past two days. At this point, Lu Ling and Nicholas have similar ideas, Patrick feels good in front of goal, his calves are explosive, his hitting is also accurate, and he has the talent to be a shooter.

Patrick scored a lot of goals in the development team, but he had more assists in comparison. He played at left-back for several years at Leyton East, delivering first-class crosses – and Lu Ling knew that was one of the main reasons they let him play in that position. After he came to the QPR reserve team, Lu Ling told Tom that he must not be allowed to stay in the backcourt anymore. If this continues, sooner or later, the offensive talent will be wasted.

Lu Ling stopped Patrick, covered his mouth and said to him, "Pat, our backcourt players are not capable enough, if you want to get the ball more, you have to go back to the backcourt as often as possible." But this is also a drain on your body, and you have to take care of it yourself. Your alignment with Charlie is important, keep an eye on his position at all times. The reason why she covered her mouth was because she was afraid that she would be caught on TV and read her lips.

Patrick nodded, it felt weird.

Eleven years ago, they were neighbours, living in an apartment in East London. She made money for him as a babysitter, so she got married. I don't want her to become his first football coach again.

Eleven years later, he became a professional footballer, and she became an assistant coach for the team. They appeared together in front of the TV cameras.

Patrick's father, Jack Amber, was also present today, and he couldn't help but sigh a little when he saw this scene. He still remembers the first time he saw the Asian girl.

"By the way, Pat, thank you for speaking for me yesterday. Lu Ling looked at the boy and hesitated before continuing, "But please don't meddle in this kind of thing in the future, I can solve it myself." ”

Patrick glanced at the TA and didn't nod or shake his head. Her personality, he knows very well. However, they all said that she was his best mate, what really happened, can he still sit idly by?

Patrick turned his head again to look at James not far away—it was a good thing they weren't playing the same road today. He played as a right winger today, he rarely plays on the right side. But Nicholas said to get used to the different positions.

"I hate that bastard. Patrick said and pumped the ball into the net hard, and the goalkeeper made a symbolic pounce, but it didn't touch.

Lu Ling threw him a new ball, "You don't have to worry about it." ”

The warm-up time was almost up, and the visiting team went back first. Then, the home team's players and coaches packed their things and headed to the dressing room.

Lu Ling was holding two training vests in his hands, and suddenly heard a low roar coming from the away team's fan stand:

"Hey! Assistant Coach, you're such a sweetheart!" Assistantmanager,you-resuchasweetheart!)

Then, she heard laughter, but soon, the home fans yelled at the visiting fans to shut them up. She walked into the hallway and could no longer hear the sound outside. She thought she was strong enough not to care about this, but her shoulders still trembled a few times when she heard those words.

**********

The game began with the singing of fans of the two teams, and this time the TV camera gave several close-ups of Lu Ling, who was about ten centimeters shorter than head coach Nicholas, not tall, but not petite either. With short hair and ears, he is plain and facing the sky, wearing a dark blue down jacket, and his dark pupils are full of calm.

Preston as a promoted horse, this small half season, has played smoothly. Although it ranks ahead of QPR, it is not much behind QPR in terms of strength.

At this time, the two teams are fighting for the ball near the center circle.

Charlie managed to snatch the ball, but soon a trio came in between them. In desperation, he had no choice but to pass back to centre-back Clint Hill. After Clint got the ball, the Preston striker hurriedly pressed. Clint thought there was plenty of time and space to take it too seriously, and when he tried to get the ball to James on the left, the ball was cut off by a Preston winger.

The QPR players rushed back to chase back, but it was too late, and the Preston winger gave a pass over the top to the striker's feet. Goalkeeper Robert Green was a bit of a bold shot and was easily shaken off and the Preston striker slotted the ball home in front of an empty goal.

At 19 minutes into the first half, the score became 0:1, and QPR fell behind at home.

Before the goal, Nicholas was drinking water, and when he finished drinking the water and the ball had already gone in, he threw the bottle of mineral water on the grass hard, and then got up from the dugout and went to the touchline to command.

If it weren't for the fact that no one was available, he wouldn't want to use Clint, this guy was thirty-seven.

It was a goal that left the fans frustrated.

In the second half of the first half, QPR made several attempts to push forward from the left to no avail. Patrick didn't get much of the ball, and he remembered Christine's pre-game words that he had to drop back more.

This time, Patrick received a pass from midfielder Sandro at the back. He took a few dozen meters on the side and waited for his teammates to come up. Instead of giving it, Charlie took two more steps and then seemingly inadvertently twisted the direction to the midfielder Massimo Rwango.

Massimo fired an unguarded long-range shot from beyond the centre of a shot that the Preston goalkeeper couldn't reach.

1:1！

In first-half stoppage time, QPR equalised.

Near the corner flag area, Massimo grabbed the boy who was giving him the assist by the neck, and Charlie ran over, and the three of them hugged each other.

After celebrating, Patrick glanced over to the stands where his father was. Jack was still frantically pulling the fans next to him and kept saying, "This is my boy!"

After a burst of ecstasy and celebration in the dugout, the head coach and assistant coach sat down again.

Nicholas turned his head to his assistant and said, "Offensive core play!"

Lu Ling nodded, his eyes full of pride, "Pat never let me down!"