Ross Barkley bumped into Patrick in the tunnel. The pretty boy seemed to be in a good mood, and Rose always felt that there was something other than the lead and his own goal. Something flashed through his mind, but his mind was all about the game, and he didn't bother to think about it anymore, so he pouted and said "see you later" and ran into the locker room.

The boss was already in the locker room, and he thought as he pinched his chin at the tactical board. Rose sat down in his place and glanced at the locker room, where none of his teammates looked good. He took a sip of water and listened to his teammates chatting trivially about some of the details of what happened on the field in the first half. The boss said something to the TA and then turned his head.

All eyes were on him. Waiting for him to speak. He always has a magic that uplifts people.

****

The second half was about to begin, and the players of both teams walked out of the tunnel one after another.

The lights on all sides of the stadium were lit up, and fans were scattered back to the stands from the rest area at the back. The home fans looked excited. After all, they are the one who is ahead. As for the Everton fans, the look on their faces is anything but pleasant.

Lu Ling walked out of the tunnel where she met Everton's assistant coach Juan Gonzalez.

Juan has the typical appearance of a Spanish man, with brown hair, blue eyes, and an extremely thick beard, only slightly taller than her, but very strong. Lu Ling knew that he used to play fullback.

She didn't know Juan well enough to just nod and say hello, but Juan took two steps toward her.

"He's still in there. Juan said, with an accent similar to Nick's.

Lu Ling knew that Juan was not only Nick's teaching assistant, but also his friend. But with Nick's personality, she wouldn't talk to anyone about their feelings, she was sure. She smiled and nodded, but did not speak.

She had been waiting for this game for a long time. She knew exactly what she was expecting. But there's another reason for being stupid. She wanted to see him. Although he said he had slept with someone else. Although she knew she should look forward. But she couldn't deny the fact that she missed him so much.

"Your team is great. Juan continued.

"Thank you. Lu Ling smiled slightly, still without extra words.

Juan seemed to be about to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything, he smiled at her and walked to the visitors' dugout.

Lu Ling felt a little strange, but she didn't have time to think about it now, and she also walked to the home team's coach's seat. She took two steps, and Patrick ran toward her.

"Tina. ”

She walked to the sideline, just as she wanted to tell him something. For example, if there is a provocation from an Everton player, you must not be fooled. There were a few other things, she said quickly, and the game would start soon.

Patrick's expression was serious as she spoke, but when she finished speaking, he leaned into her ear and said, "My new girl? With that, he looked at her and crooked his mouth at her and smiled.

Lu Lingyi said righteously, "Focus on the game! Go back quickly." ”

"Tina, don't worry, I know how to do it. Patrick said as he ran backwards a few steps and winked at her with a *.

Lu Ling was a little helpless, she should keep a straight face, but it didn't make much sense. Then she saw Pat's expression change slightly, but he quickly turned around and ran to his place. She tilted her head to the left back. Nick was looking at her. His eyes are so deep that he can never read.

I've waited so long, so much I want to see it. Nicholas looked away and walked towards the dugout.

This back, Lu Ling was thinking, and his eyes suddenly stopped beside the fourth official.

Everton's winter signing Florin Andonne is ready to play.

Andone joins from La Liga side Cordoba and is a Romanian international. He scored a lot of goals in La Liga and also played in last summer's European Championships, but his Romanian side finished bottom of the group stage. Many media outlets were very surprised by Nicholas's decision to bring in reinforcements. He doesn't look like a very strong player.

Lu Ling frowned, Nick was very decisive. There were substitutions at the start of the second half.

The 23-year-old Romanian replaced Ayoze Pérez, who started the game.

The game begins.

The Everton manager is back on the sideline.

Soon, Lu Ling discovered that Nick had changed his formation, from 433 to 4231.

Oliver Torres was moved to the left wing-back, Dembele was moved to the middle and the newly arrived Andone played to the right.

He wanted Dembeledo to get the ball. Lu Ling stared at the field.

Ousmane Dembele, the young talent from France, was rated higher at the UT summit than Manchester City's Živkovic. But throughout the first half of the game, he didn't have many chances, which had to do with QPR's ferocious attack on the left, and Dembele had to drop back often to get involved in defence.

Now, he's in the middle and he's so close to Oliver Torres that he doesn't have to worry about not getting the ball.

A French boy under the age of 20 starts with the ball.

In front of him was Ian Parker.

Since the start of the season, Ian has gradually gained recognition from the media and fans, and is now the best young defender in the league. It was Ian's calm play that cut off Everton's attack in the first half.

Dembele's words from the manager at half-time flashed through his mind.

"QPR's midfielder, Ian Parker, is outstanding, but I know he's not your opponent. He's definitely more fragile than you think, a lot. If we can defeat him, then our attack will be better, and this task will be left to you. Don't let me down. ”

Dembele glanced at the red-haired boy who wasn't strong enough and began a series of feints, Ian dropping his feet, but Dembele was incredibly fast enough to slip the ball past his feet.

Ian's reaction was already quick, and he immediately turned around to intercept on the ground, but Dembele's terrifying explosiveness took effect and completely shook off the back of the QPR.

Dembele then fired a long-range shot straight from the edge of the area before Mensah pounced, and the ball grazed the post and flew off the bottom line, which was of high quality.

Lu Ling was a little shocked when he saw Ian being passed, and immediately called his name, "Ian, Ian, concentrate!"

The Scottish boy looked at the sidelines and pursed his lips, "It doesn't matter, we're still ahead," he thought.

The ball was back at the home side's feet and QPR was in possession at the back, but Everton's strategy changed completely.

A Toffee player in a black away jersey frantically pounces on a QPR backcourt player in the frontcourt.

The sudden pressure threw the QPR backcourt into disarray.

The ball was passed to captain Nedham, who panicked and gave it to Ian. But a slender figure, with the wind, passed Ian's side.

It was Dembele! He didn't give Ian any space to handle the ball, he just broke the ball.

Ian, who has always been excellent at ball control, was stealed by Dembele at the back!

The ball was near the penalty area, and Dembele made a feint and went straight to the feet of Lukaku, who basically formed a one-on-one shot, but fired wide.

Extremely dangerous.

The home fans broke out in a cold sweat.

Only three minutes into the second half.

Nick is starting to ask for the ball. Lu Ling thought. She was a little worried about Ian's situation. But she saw Pat walk over and pat her buddy on the shoulder, and felt a little more steady.

But two minutes later, Dembele played Ian again, and even more humiliatingly.

The French boy played a "rainbow pass" with the ball between his two feet, which directly made Ian stunned in place, and Marco van Ginkel, another defender who followed up, brought down Dembele and received a yellow card.

After another three minutes, Dembele made a comeback, changing direction in succession, Ian's feet were completely messed up, and his judgment was also wrong, and he kicked the opponent in the shin.

Referee Lee Mason also snapped a yellow card for Ian.

Just eight minutes into the second half, Dembele had already given both of QPR's midfielders yellow cards.

Worse...... Lu Ling saw Ian's expression.

That's his expression when he sometimes can't be reused in the past (for example, two good buddies are playing the main team, and he is still a substitute), and he doubts himself.

Ian is a player with great leadership potential, but he also has a low self-esteem in his heart.

For a long time, he was worried about his lack of quality and agility, and it was not until the end of last season that the confidence he had shown in the development squad began to regain his confidence.

And Nick knows Ian's character well.

He used one of the best geniuses in Europe today to mentally crush Ian in just eight minutes.

The expression on the face of a Scottish red-haired boy has become very abnormal.

Lu Ling began to think about whether to replace Ian......

Just when she was undecided, something happened on the other side.

Romanian striker Andone received a direct long pass from Stones at the back and knocked over Yu Zixiang directly when he was scrambling for a header.

Andone's height is taller than Zixiang's, and his strength is about the same, but Andone, who often plays center, is obviously more set in aerial confrontations, and this time he didn't even foul him.

After the header went down, the ball was at the feet of Barkley, who sent in a cross and Lukaku jumped to head the ball, but the Everton centre-forward was high again this time.

Once again, the QPR escaped.

Lu Ling saw that Zixiang was a little dissatisfied, he first dragged Andon, and then kept saying something to the referee Lee Mason. She was a little anxious, but fortunately, Pat and Nedham pulled Zixiang away in time. But Zixiang still muttered a few words to Antonei at the beginning of his departure.

The home fans began to sing loudly to cheer the team on. From the song of Peter to the song of Christine.

But on the pitch, Dembele beat Ian again in the middle.

Maybe it was the previous blow, or maybe it was because of the yellow card on his back, Ian didn't even stick out his feet.

Dembele passes the ball to Andone, who is given a half-high ball. Andogne took it down beautifully with the back-to-back technique of a center forward, and carried it hard. The action was not foul, but it was very tough, and the Asian boy pushed his opponent with some annoyance.

The Romanian cleverly fell to the ground, and Mason blew for a foul and also gave Zixiang a yellow card.

Zixiang was very annoyed, kept swearing in his mouth, and walked away scolding.

Everton's attack continued.

Yu Zixiang had to temporarily retreat to the backfield due to Andone's successive onslaughts, Ian was often distracted by Dembele's targeting, and Patrick had to return to the back to assist the defence.

QPR was suppressed by the Toffees in the first ten minutes of the second half.

Sky Sports commentator Martin Taylor commented: "Flores' tweak has worked, and Everton are like third in the table. ”

"Yes, I think the Spaniard did a good job, he liberated Dembele. In the first half, the French played too depressed. Guest Gary Neville continued, "Everton have had a lot of possession this season and have a high goal scoring efficiency, and Lu may have underestimated her mentor. He laughed.

The game went on.

Finally, Yu Zixiang got the ball. He was ready for a long-distance individual breakaway, and he was too aggrieved since the start of the second half. He passed Adonne, ignoring Vargas and Patrick next to him, and wanted to break through to another one. But Ross Barkley stabbed diagonally and dropped very quickly to cut off his ball.

Zixiang strained his face and immediately got up - Barkley's long ball had already flown towards his defensive zone. Zixiang's chase speed is extremely fast, but the speed of the ball is faster, and Andone gets the ball and wants to take it forward.

QPR's left-back pounced on Andoné despite a single gesture.

Andonne slowed down suddenly, but Zixiang didn't brake the car, and the Romanian did a good job of protecting the ball with his body.

Yu Zixiang knocked Adone over.

The eyes of the home fans were nervous, and so was Lu Ling on the sidelines.

Martin Taylor asked: "Will this be a yellow card? I think Lu must be praying, but ...... Oh my God......"

Referee Lee Mason picked up a second yellow card amid the boos at Loftus Road.

Zixiang jumped up, and he rushed to Mason, explaining, the gesture was extremely exaggerated.

To no avail.

Just 60 minutes into the game, although the QPR is still leading 1-0, it will play one less.

Lu Ling stayed where he was. It took only fifteen minutes for Nick to crush two of his key players.

Zixiang and Ian, both of whom were promoted to the first team by Nick, and he couldn't understand their strengths and weaknesses better.

Ian's inferiority complex, Zixiang's fiery personality......

So far, most of the media and fans' attention on QPR players has been focused on Pat alone. Ian and Zixiang have naturally received a lot of praise as the best of the British youngsters, but most people still feel that QPR is Patter's one-man team.

Just like Leicester City last season, at the beginning, no one paid much attention to the French midfielder called N'Golo Kante, everyone only saw Vardy who scored consecutive goals, and only saw Mahrez, who was extremely dazzling in goal and assist organizations, until the end of the season, Kante's ability was discussed more.

Ian plays a pivotal role in this team, taking on the central midfield, not only to attack at the first time, but also to dominate the overall situation when defending, and choke the opponent's key line. When he can't play properly, the entire central and defensive midfield of QPR is close to paralysis. He was a key figure in Lu Ling's initial win against Tottenham, and was the guarantee that the QPR midfield became more and more solid.

And Zixiang is a member of the "golden left side" of the powerful QPR, Patrick and Vargas certainly have strong individual ability, but Zixiang's super running ability, fast speed and ball handling skills are an indispensable and important part of this left side, and many times Patrick's highlight moments are thanks to Zixiang's assistance.

Now, Zixiang has been sent off, not only is it a matter of one less player, but the original perfectly working attack combination on the left side is equivalent to being dismantled.

And Ian, the sleepwalking red-haired boy, looks unlikely to continue to play normally in this game......

The QPR is in an unprecedented crisis.

Lu Ling glanced over there, Nick didn't look at this side, and continued to stare at the field, where the Everton players were running towards him.

Nick didn't have it like Jose. He didn't choose to limit Pat, he prioritized Ian.

Indeed, this is very ingenious. If she were him, she might have done the same.

Messi may be difficult to be constrained, but Busquets is not.

Restricting the backcourt pivot can have a huge impact on the ball handling of the frontcourt players, which in turn disrupts the rhythm of the opponent's entire team.

And, put a cunning center forward on the wing against Zixiang......

Zixiang is not good at dealing with too many incoming balls in the air, and he is easily excited, and sure enough, something went wrong. This is the best helper who abolished Pat.

How could it be so easy. She should have thought of it a long time ago.

Lu Ling turned her head and said something to George, and then she said a few words to Zixiang, who had already walked in front of her.

Zixiang nodded, frustrated, and said, "I'm sorry, boss." ”

Lu Ling patted him on the back. He's still young, and there will always be times like this. She'd talk to him later, but didn't want to blame him too much for now.

George followed Zixiang into the players' tunnel.

Nicholas glanced coldly.

Everton are a strong team and QPR is a mid-table team.

A strong team plays a mid-table team, and there is no need to give up the usual strategy. Therefore, his starting lineup is no different from that of West Ham and Leicester City. He was curious to know what the result would be if he followed this line of thought and played QPR.

Of course, QPR is a mid-table team with absolute strength (Patrick) and character (the manager has ideas and a number of good players). So they took the lead in the first half and got more possession.

But, let's not forget, the cornerstone of this team was laid by him. He knows the team no less than his girls.

And it seems that his girl is still a little undecided about whether to change Ian. Nicholas thought.

It's not "his girl" anymore. He shook his head.

He noticed that on the sidelines, Álvaro Cruz and Glenn Mitchell were warming up. It looks like Kristen is about to make adjustments.

But the ball is not out of bounds yet, and QPR cannot be substituted for the time being.

With Zixiang sent off, Patrick made a cameo at left-back for the time being.

A top-level coach must be good at grasping the key time nodes.

This, his girl...... Christine wasn't enough.

Nikolaas shouted a few words out onto the pitch, and Lukaku and Andonnay immediately switched positions when they heard it.

Andonne rushed into the box and Romelu Lukaku appeared on the wing. That is to say-

The tall Everton centre-forward is now up against Patrick, who is temporarily playing at left-back!

It's a ground ball, 191 centimeters tall and weighing more than 90 kilograms, but the not bulky Belgian beast easily carries the pretty boy and then kills the middle.

After not playing full-back for a long time, Patrick's defensive awareness has long been weakened, he did not jam the middle, and the whole person was carried down near the sideline.

Romelu Lukaku fired a powerful shot into the back of the net from the corner of the box, and Robert flew to save it......

But suddenly, the slender figure reappeared, and he quietly and quickly crossed past Ian, rushed between the two central defenders, and reached out on his toes to touch the incoming ball.

Lukaku's shot was already strong, but the sudden change of line caught everyone off guard.

The ball goes into the net.

1:1！

The time is 62 minutes.

Lu Ling turned around and clenched her fists, she hesitated!

If it weren't for the hesitation, if I could have replaced Ian earlier...... Then maybe the backcourt won't collapse so badly, maybe Zixiang won't be so busy that he was sent off, and this goal may not appear.

Her hesitation, the guide was seized by Nick at a crucial moment - just as she was about to make a substitution, two of Everton's attackers suddenly switched positions and broke Patrick's makeshift left-back to score.

It wasn't a fluke, it was the result of the strategy of the opposing manager.

Anthony may not be able to handle Patrick, and Dembele won't even be that easy – Nick must have seen Patrick steal Zivkovic (Manchester City) one-on-one – but it's a different story if it's Lukaku, a big, terrifying little monster.

QPR made two substitutions, with Álvaro Cruz and Glenn Mitchell coming on for Ian Parker and Nathan Raymond.

When Ian was off, Lu Ling hugged him, she didn't have time to talk to him too much now, but she needed to let him know that she didn't blame him.

Álvaro played at left-back, with Glenn and Nedham partnering in central defence, while Mensah was pushed up in a midfield role in place of Ian.

Patrick played right midfield, Vargas left midfield, and the QPR with one less player changed to a 4-4-1 formation.

QPR can only be forced to recycle and stick to its own restricted area.

But Everton's next move turned out to be odd.

They're playing long passes.

There is about half an hour left in the game, and it is good to play one more person, and Nick actually let Everton play a long pass!

In the eyes of outsiders, this is probably a lack of common sense and a waste of advantages.

It took Lu Ling five minutes to figure out Nick's intentions.

All the long passes landed on the captain Nedham.

Adonne and Romelu Lukaku, two strikers with very impactful but very different characteristics, took turns attacking Nedham's side.

Although long passes are prone to mistakes, they also lead to more mistakes by opponents.

And even if Everton makes a mistake in a long pass, what can the QPR do when they get the ball? Nick is happy to see the QPR with one less player pressing up, so that suicide is not far away.

Also, Nedham's shortcomings are clear to Nick, and he is forcing her to pull Mensah back into the box and replace him with a back five to protect the box, thus losing more control rights.

In this game, he went from being restrained everywhere to countering step by step......

Now, it's starting to encroach on her control little by little.

He wants to completely take away her control.

If she could have done it at a certain time (see R68-72), then Nick has always been-

rol.

Plug a qiē and take control.

For her, only when it is absolutely necessary, will she push herself to the edge of the cliff after calculating the risk, and then give it a go.

Nick, on the other hand, is happy to stand on the edge of the cliff at any time...... Then wait for the opponent to come over and kick the opponent down.

Nick is a genius.

He's a great gambler, he doesn't care about the risks, and he enjoys them, because the moment the coin falls, he can always guess which side it is.

He's still the same Nick, the same Nick who has taught her a lot of things. They were kind-hearted, admired each other, and he was proud that she had been his assistant, and she was happy to call him a mentor.

However, in their first matchup......

Just then, Everton scored again.

Right-back Coleman's cross was met by Nedham and Romelu Lukaku leaped to the top of the net with a smashing header.

69 minutes, 1:2.

Now the QPR has to be pressed out, and it has to be attacked.

Patrick got the ball and made a personal break, first past Oliver Torres and then past Gaya. McCarthy moved quickly, but Patrick continued to dodge and then sent in a cross.

Leon scrambled the ball and slashed out.

The pretty boy kicked the turf hard.

Lu Ling's face was expressionless.

She turned around and used the last card in her hand.

She brought on the attacking Massimo Rwango and the yellow card Marco van Ginkel.

It's a gamble that could have thrown the team out of touch.

She made a mistake.

Massimo handled the ball awkwardly up front to lead Everton's counter-attack.

Dembele got the ball and swerved through the QPR backline and fired a powerful shot from the outside.

The shot from 25 yards out of goal flew straight into the corner.

In the 75th minute, the QPR, who played one less, fell behind 1:3.

The tide is over.

In the 83rd minute, Patrick dribbled the ball at a high speed and hit the penalty area, he didn't make any more fancy moves, directly overturned Gaya and Mori, and then faced Stones' up-and-down and forced it into the penalty area.

Stones kicked down ferociously and overturned Patrick with the ball.

Lu Ling looked at referee Lee Mason......

There were no penalties.

Strictly speaking, this ball Stones touched the ball first and the decision was correct, but maybe some referees will blow for a penalty.

But apparently QPR's luck is not today.

In the 83rd minute, Ross Barkley made a straight shot through the scattered midfield line of the QPR, and substitute Deulofeu directly pushed the ball with his right foot, and Glenn Mitchell quickly reached out to block the ball. The ball lands at the feet of Adonne. The in-form Romanian fired another shot past QPR goalkeeper Robert Green from close range.

It was Everton's fourth.

After this goal, Nicholas replaced Ross Barkley with veteran Gareth Barry and took control of the situation.

For the last ten minutes or so, Everton kept pouring their feet and killing time. But the QPR doesn't have much to do with the ball anymore.

The score was finally fixed at 1:4.

Shameful.

She gave Pochettino the score, Nick gave her.

It was the worst defeat of Kristen Lue's coaching career so far.

Lu Ling looked at the score on the scoreboard, she thought about winning, she thought about drawing, and she also thought about losing, but she never thought that she would lose to him like this. She wasn't sad, she wasn't angry, she didn't know what she was like.

She almost broke her foot when she turned around. And when she looked up, Nick was walking towards her.