140 Chapter 140
The MOTD's analysis of the game that night lasted twenty minutes. Alan Shearer ignored his previous suspicions and praised Kristen Lu:
"I believe that no one is optimistic about the QPR of the missing major general in this game, but Lu Tai surprised me, and Leonardo Ferreira, this kid I think is no worse than Suarez of the same age. I would even say that this is the best game of the season for QPR, I know Amber is not there, but the quality of the QPR manager really leaves me speechless, I think she can take QPR into the top four and even be the head coach of our national team in the future, why not?"
Another guest, Danny Murphy, picked up the conversation and said, "Don't forget, they're in the FA Cup final! I can't believe QPR's performance this season, I don't think they've done it as easily as Leicester City did last season." Also, I also like Leonardo Ferreira. Coming to the Premier League at such a young age, the intense environment is like playing football in his own backyard for him, and it has to be said that Lu's transfer in the winter to bring in him and Glenn Mitchell is too crucial. β
Lineker concluded the programme by saying: "We can look forward to the day when Christine becomes England national team manager. And, so far in the Premier League this season, the title and Champions League seat are still full of suspense. I have to say, I love this league. The best league in the world? Oh, I think we can say that once in a while. Good night. β
That night, Lineker also praised Kristen Lu and QPR on Twitter, and fans soon said under his tweet:
[If they end up fourth, you should strip yourself naked in the first MOTD episode of next season!]
Lineker was quick to reply:
"Do I look stupid? There's a good chance they've got it, don't try to trick me into taking off my clothes so easily.] γ
****
In the absence of leading stars and main strikers, the 3-2 reversal of Chelsea in the QPR not only made Alan Shearer and Danny Murphy, but also made major bloggers/lottery companies and media fans begin to believe that this small club in west London will replace Chelsea in west London to reach next season's Champions League.
But Lu Ling's good mood only lasted one night.
After the match, Timothy Fosu Mensah felt a pain in his hamstring. At first, Lu Ling thought it was just fatigue and that it would be fine to rest, but the next day, the Dutch boy's pain intensified.
The team doctor checked that Mensah's hamstring strained and he had to rest for at least two weeks, meaning he would not be able to play for the rest of the league game, and Lu Ling could only hope that he would be in time for the FA Cup final.
In addition, Marco van Ginkel, who is also Dutchman, came out with a scan of the cruciate ligament in his left knee and will be out of action for at least ten months, which is a serious injury. Marco was extremely depressed, and Lu Ling called him to comfort him. It was a terrible thing, Marco's loan deal had just been converted into a permanent transfer in the winter, so he could face his old club, but he didn't expect such an outcome.
The players did treat this game as if it were a World Cup final, but the price was so heavy that Lu Ling had to have some confidence shaken.
At the moment, the injuries in the squad are all in key positions: the main central defender Mensur, one of the main midfielders, Marco van Ginkel, the main striker Pate and the main striker/winger Vargas.
This is the result of fighting on two fronts with almost only one lineup. Lu Ling knows that his team is maturing, but there are still too many things to do to become a real powerhouse.
Regardless of the outcome of this season, she will have an extremely busy summer.
****
In the Manchester derby that ended on Sunday, Jose and Pep drew 1-1. With a play-off game in hand, the Red Devils have taken the absolute initiative on the road to the title. Everton, on the other hand, suffered a surprise defeat to Watford, who also picked up a lucky controversial goal after Dembele was injured in that game. Nicholas was furious at the controversial goal, but could not do anything about it. After this game, Everton's initiative on the road to the title was gone.
QPR, on the other hand, now have one game less and are level on points with Chelsea. In terms of goal difference, the QPR is 22 and Chelsea's is 21.
The rules of the Premier League are that the goal difference is compared first, then the number of goals scored, and then the winner-loss relationship. Lu Ling doesn't want to score goals, because Chelsea currently have more goals than QPR, so she will at least have to beat Chelsea on goal difference. Of course, it's best if you are ahead in points. One less game, the initiative is still in our hands, she thought.
After this round, the top eight standings:
Manchester City have 78 points in 36 games
Man Utd 77 points from 35 games (one game less)
Everton 76 points in 36 games
QPR35 games, 63 points (one less game)
Chelsea have 63 points from 36 games
Liverpool 62 points in 36 games
Arsenal 61 points in 36 games
Tottenham 58 points in 35 games
****
Saturday, May 13, 3pm, King Power Stadium.
When Lu Ling shook Ranieri's hand with a smile, she didn't think that she had conceded three points here after 90 minutes, and she had managed to snatch them from Antonio Conte.
There was nothing she could do about it.
In this game, the QPR remnants played. Vargas, who had been injured for a long time, sat on the bench, and Patrick was close to returning despite not being on the bench for this game.
In the first half, Nedham went off injured after tripping Jamie Vardy in the box just five minutes into the box and pulling it to the groin. Jamie Vardy scored from the penalty spot to make it 1-0 for the home side.
Lu Ling had no one available, so he had to replace Nedham with underdog defender Steven Caurke and partner Glenn Mitchell. Steven has been out of action for a long time, and the QPR defense has made frequent mistakes.
QPR put more in the attack, but Glenn Mitchell and Steven Cork had an incompatible header that both conceded and Vardy got on the ball.
The England striker went straight in and scored the ball to give Leicester City 2:0 qpr in the first half.
QPR fans will be hoping to replicate the comeback they did against Chelsea last time, but the reality is always harsh.
In the second half, in the absence of personnel, Lu Ling tried various tricks and could not score. Leicester was on full suffrage. Time is running out and there is no sign of reversal.
A big kick in the Leicester backline, Steven tried to stop the ball but it was stopped by Jamie Vardy. Striker Moussa inserted at super high speed, and it was another single knife, which was easy to shoot.
Leicester City 3:0qpr.
Not only does that mean the three points have been conceded, but it also means that QPR now has a goal difference of two less than Chelsea.
Vargas came back in the 70th minute and scored a long-range shot in the 80th minute.
Final Leicester 3:1qpr.
Leicester City, the biggest dark horse in the Premier League last season, can only be said to have an average performance this season, and they have not even entered the European zone. But as the league drew to a close, they snatched three points from the biggest dark horse of the season, leaving QPR once again out of the race for top four, plunging the entire King Power Arena into a thrill that was more than just a win.
Sometimes, watching others fail seems to be a more enjoyable thing than winning yourself. Lu Ling looked at the fox fan and thought. Her gaze was cold.
After shaking hands with Ranieri again, Lu Ling felt that half of his body was numb. Tim walked up to her and said a few words of comfort. She didn't hear a word, but said in a deep voice: "I can only hope that the Germans can help us get rid of Conte today." β
Later on, Chelsea travel to Liverpool and it's not a game where Chelsea are guaranteed to get the three points. However, two hours later, when Lu Ling was already sitting in Harrington's office, she was disappointed again. Chelsea beat Liverpool 3-1 at Anfield.
In that case, Chelsea have three points more than QPR with one game in hand. The goal difference became 23 for Chelsea, 20 for QPR. Lu Ling's side dropped from fourth to sixth, and Arsenal had one more point than them with one game in hand.
The top three teams all won and the standings remained unchanged. This means that Everton, another dark horse this season, is on the way to the title. Liverpool lost to Chelsea and Tottenham drew with Southampton, and after this round of Premier League, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur officially announced that they did not qualify for the top four.
Standings (after 37 rounds):
Manchester City scored 81 points in 37 games
Manchester United 80 points from 36 games
Everton 37 games, 79 points
Chelsea 37 games, 66 points (goal difference: 23)
Arsenal 37 games 64 points (goal difference 25)
QPR36 games, 63 points (goal difference: 20)
****
It was a sunny Monday morning. It was getting early to get brighter.
Lu Ling felt that his whole body was soaked. She hadn't sweated so much in a long, long time. The singing in the headphones was very loud, matching and out of place with her high-speed brain.
Does she still have the initiative? She needs to win all of her remaining two games and have a clean sheet in both games. She can't hope for a last-ditch defeat for Chelsea. She can't leave her fate in the hands of someone else. What's more, as long as their side is not guaranteed to get six points, they may fall behind Arsenal.
Pat has returned to training and he's in good shape. This is good news. He hadn't asked her again what he would do with what had happened between them, nor had he ever made any more intimate gestures, and he knew it was not the right time.
Lu Ling put all her energy into the two league games in the final week of the Premier League season, no, not only her, but everyone in this team.
Tony and Nathan Neal also called, and the two bosses didn't put pressure on them - you were expecting a million pounds when you bought a lottery ticket, and if you won, you're already happy, but when you find out that this million pounds can become two million pounds, of course you look forward to it, but don't forget, if it's only one million in the end, you have nothing to disappoint. That's probably their mentality, and that's the mentality of the fans.
But it's not Kristen Lue's, and it can't be the team she leads.
****
The make-up game against West Brom came on Wednesday evening. Hawthorn pitch on the outskirts of Birmingham.
West Bromwich Albion, who need at least a point to relegation, are fully in a barrel formation. The QPR continues to be under heavy siege.
Vargas missed two close-range chances and LeΓ³n missed a header on goal.
Throughout the first half, QPR had a whopping 70 percent possession of the ball. But no goals were scored. Lu Ling stood on the sidelines and felt that he was going crazy. Her face was very solemn, sometimes she remained motionless for several minutes, and sometimes she would suddenly wave her arms frantically and shout to the players on the field what to do.
This is probably the first time people have seen Kristen Lu look a little nervous.
Patrick sat on the bench staring at Tina's back, a little distracted. Tim, who was sitting in front of him, suddenly turned back to him and said, "Do you think she's normal?"
Patrick's eyes were already on the ball, and he took a quick look at the assistant coach and said, "That's how she is." If there's something she'd love to get, but there's a chance she won't get it, she'll do it. β
Tim listened to Patrick's words and thought about it for a few seconds, it was true, in some small things, she did show the same quality that Patrick said. He had always thought he knew Christine well, but now it seems that this is not the case.
The first half ended 0-0.
Lu Ling closed his lips tightly and strode towards the locker room. She told herself that there was still time, and there was still enough time. If she loses this three points, she will probably ...... She couldn't imagine what would happen to her.
The second half of the game started quickly, and the QPR continued to besiege, and the time was dwindling little by little. Lu Ling would look at his watch every few minutes. She's out of balance, she's out of balance, and it's hard for her to control that. She glanced back at the bench, and Pat was almost ready to play.
Finally, in the 65th minute, Nathan Raymond scored a goal in a scuffle of corner kicks.
QPR leads 1-0 away.
This ball made Lu Ling's heart beat a little more normally, but it was far from enough. More goals have to be scored.
In the 68th minute, Patrick came on.
Player of the Season had just been on the pitch for five minutes when he was brought down by West Bromwich Albion ferocious midfielder Jacob. Luckily, it was fine, but there was a bruise on my leg.
Lu Ling complained loudly on the sidelines, and muttered to the fourth official: "I think that foul just now should be a yellow card, players like Patrick and referees should protect it, do you want to see him break his leg one day?"
The fourth official on the sidelines today is Michael Oliver, the 32-year-old Premier League referee with a youthful face. Hearing the words of the QPR coach, he shrugged his shoulders and smiled and replied: "I trust my colleague's judgment. Sometimes players don't want to foul and of course we don't want to see a player break a leg. β
Lu Ling wanted to say a few more words, but she glanced at the situation on the field, forget it, she didn't have time to communicate with him about this.
All of West Bromwich Albion's players are committed to defending.
Patrick was gradually regaining his form and, after two unsuccessful attempts, opted to make his way into the crowd and stabbed home with four men.
The ball was saved by goalkeeper Ben Foster at the feet of Leon, who knocked the ball into the back of the net.
The away fan zone behind the goal erupted in loud cheers.
It was the 86th minute and the QPR led 2:0.
Now they can win for sure, but they still have one less goal difference than Chelsea and they need one, preferably two.
In the 89th minute, Patrick burst into the top of the box and crossed with a second heel, Vargas scored the ball, but the referee signaled offside. It did have a slight offside, but it was very inconspicuous.
Lu Ling erupted again on the sideline, she had been talking to Oliver for a long time, she knew it was useless, but she really needed a little venting.
Oliver shook his head expressionlessly, shaking his head.
In the 93rd minute, Glenn Mitchell's header hit the post and Ian fired a shot from close range, but it was on West Brom defender Dawson on the goal line.
At full-time, the QPR was back on point with Chelsea, but with one less goal difference and three fewer goals.
In the other replay game, Jose's side scored late against Southampton. In the standings, they surpassed Manchester City with 81 points with 83 points, which also announced that Everton with 79 points would miss out on the Premier League title with one round to go.
Lu Ling stared at the standings for a long time on the bus back to London. Tim is already working on Stoke City, the final round opponent in less than four days. She looked back again, and the players were tired, but in a good mood. Pat was wearing headphones, his eyes were closed, and he seemed to be asleep.
She didn't know what mood she was in. She took out her phone, hesitated for a few seconds, and dialed a call.
Connected soon.
She said, "I'm so sorry, how are you?"
Nick paused for a moment and said, "General." When we lost to Watford, we knew our fate was not in our hands. β
"It's going to be hard for you to accept. β
He smiled wryly, and after a second, he said, "Not the most difficult to accept." β
Lu Ling was stunned for a moment when she heard this, she wasn't sure if he meant that, and she didn't want to know. She didn't make this call to play a pestering ex-girlfriend. In any case, they were one of the people who knew each other the best, and he gave her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity......
"I've got to hang up. She said.
"Okay. Good luck, I know you still have a chance to finish fourth. β
"Thank you. β
"Christine ......"
"What?"
"We'll see you soon. β
"Nick......
"I mean the Premier League awards ceremony. β
"Oh, yes. Lu Ling remembered this. She and Nick, as well as Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho, are all candidates for the Premier League Manager of the Season award, and they are still rivals. "See you then. Goodbye, Nick. β
"Goodbye, Christine. β
She hung up. She wasn't loud, and only Tim next to her could hear that.
Tim had his head down, but suddenly turned his head and smiled at her, she didn't know what his smile meant. 166 Reading Network