The lights are flickering. Nicholas didn't touch the remote again.

What happened in the second half of the game, both men knew all too well.

Christine started the second half with Jacob Harding, replacing Argentine Claudio before pulling Ian to the back line and turning into a back five.

This is an unusual change. Claudio started because of his better technical skills and suited to QPR dominating the situation. And now replacing him, plus becoming a back five, the actual result is that the QPR formation has been withdrawn by 20 meters.

QPR ceded control after being two goals down at home.

Nicholas gave himself a little Long Island Iced Tea and looked at the face opposite. Her face was familiar to him, but it was starting to become less clear now.

He had to admit that he really didn't know what Christine was trying to do.

But since the opponent voluntarily relinquished control, Everton of course unceremoniously took over the game.

In the first ten minutes of the second half, Everton were firmly in control. The QPR turned into Everton at the beginning of the first half, sticking to the penalty area.

The atmosphere at New Queen's Park is starting to get restless.

No one knows what the head coach of QPR is going to do. The fans in the stands don't know, the reporters in the media box don't know – they're constantly questioning and speculating on social media. And the narrator and the guest commentator are equally confused.

The score is 0:2 behind, and after the QPR is replaced, the effect seems to be even worse. At that time, Everton looked ready to score a third goal at any moment, killing the suspense of the game and possibly even creating a massacre.

The home fans made some impatient and dissatisfied voices behind the home team's coach's box, so much so that every time a QPR player picked up the ball, Lu Ling could hear a fan shouting "(shot)", even if the ball had just come out of his own penalty area. Obviously, the fans are hungry for the team to attack and play with some momentum.

But Lu Ling was still sitting in the coach's seat, unmoving. She didn't stand on the sidelines in the second half, but the live camera didn't let her go.

Sitting in the Dark Horse Cross Tavern at this moment, Lu Ling recalled not that stage of the game, but a scene from the last training session the day before the game.

In between training sessions on Friday, she called Dutch boy Henk de Graaf to her side.

Genk is one of all the signings she likes this summer. Not because Claudio and Thorin are not good enough, but because Genk is the most explosive one.

Henk's eyes were sharp, like those of a young genius, provocative. Pat's eyes are also sometimes defiant, but more often than not, they are nonchalant.

Genk is known as the "new Robben", and she did think of Robben when she first saw Genk playing. Confident, likes to beat opponents, has the speed of the wind and the precise feel of the feet on long runs. What's more, Genk was born with the right foot, but there is not much difference between the two feet, much like Pat or Ousmane Dembele.

However, Robben's shortcomings, Genk also has.

That is, Genk is too fond of solo and self-shooting, often not thinking about the situation on the field. Lu Ling had told him a few times, but Henk still had a hard time restraining himself from doing it alone*.

She looked Genk in the eye and said, "I know you like to dribble the ball and shoot on your own, and I don't intend to erase your personality, so I won't force you to change." But this one, you need you to follow my tactics strictly. ”

Henk nodded.

And in this game, it happened to encounter the situation that Lu Ling mentioned to Genk before the game - the opponent pressed all the lines, and the QPR was forced to recover.

Lu Ling highlighted that on the left side of Everton, there are two Spanish players who are not very strong: Oliver Torres and Jose Gaja. This weakness has been exploited by QPR before. But when Everton recycled before, there were many excellent defenders around him, so that the two would not be exposed, and Gaya was actually very good in defense skills and speed in addition to his physical disadvantage.

Now that Everton are pressing and the attack is unfolding, Torres and Gaia are moving aggressively, looking for space to play their skills. The distance between the players widens, which gives Genk a chance.

With Zixiang and John needing to be involved defensively, and Leon, Batshuayi and Sorin are not good at dribbling from distance, Genk is the only possible candidate to tear the hole open.

On the other side, Knick seems to have seen that Genk is not very involved in the defense of the QPR, but he did not act, perhaps he is very comfortable with his own backcourt, after all, if something goes wrong, there are Rojas, Jimenez and Van der Berg to make up for it.

But Genk is no ordinary attacker. He's not as talented as Patrick, but his long-range assault is his masterpiece, and he won't lose to anyone.

In the 56th minute, Genk got the ball cleared by John and started to attack from his own half, which was a good opportunity to counterattack.

Henk did not hesitate, followed the instructions, and started directly.

He burst through Torres and Gaia in quick succession, went very well, and then led all the way to the heart of Everton. Other QPR attackers, keep up as fast as you can.

Next up was Jimenez standing in the way. Henk rushed towards him. The Dutch boy doesn't dribble as frequently as Patrick, but he can rely on a very simple way to break through defenders.

The Everton centre-back's hard tackle was dodged by Genk, but not quite out of it, and further on was the territory of Roxas the "Death Stalker".

Genk habitually wanted to shoot, but it was 25 metres away. He was criticized by various coaches for this since he was a child, but he never went his own way. So when he brought the ball, he still only saw the goal.

This time, the owner specifically told him that if there is a counter-attacking opportunity, he needs to observe his teammates when he is dribbling the ball, and he must pass the ball if he can, because the team will not have too many opportunities like this.

The boss said, "They must have studied you carefully, they will say, that 'Sinsalaben' will only shoot on his own, there is nothing to worry about, do you wish you were a very predictable player?

No one likes to be a predictable person.

Genk's leg suddenly retracted, and Everton defender Van der Bergh chased after him from behind and poked the ball out.

Genk cursed his national team mate under his breath, then used his superhuman explosiveness to force his body to follow the ball, and then slammed his leg again to make a shot.

Rojas was directly ready to stretch his leg to block, and the coach had already said that this kid was shooting after taking the ball.

But—

Genk opted for a pass and the shot was a feint.

León has followed and he was given the ball for the first time in this game. Rojas had already turned around and rushed up at breakneck speed, but Leon had already taken the lead.

He followed the ball and brushed past Rojas, and then the Uruguayan faced Everton goalkeeper Renato and hit the top corner of the goal with a bang!

In the 56th minute, QPR pulled one back, 1:2.

The crowd was jubilant as Leon rushed to the goal, picked up the ball and raced back to his own half.

In the tavern, the moment was frozen by Nicholas.

He said to her: "You are lucky for this goal, our defenders are still a little too young. ”

Lu Ling smiled. She admits that it was good luck to score on a counter-attack, but she doesn't agree that it was absolute luck. Perhaps this touched the pride and control of the Spaniards, which is why he said it was luck.

But what happened next was definitely not luck.

She looked at the face across the table. Nick took a large sip of Long Island Iced Tea, his face expressionless.

After QPR pulled one back, it was clear that the Everton boss was aware that the weakness of Fernando Torres and Gaia had been exploited. But his response was to let the team go crazy and press up front, and not let the QPR easily form a counterattack.

If it were a normal coach, you might think that Nick would retreat immediately after conceding a ball to prevent further conceding. But Lu Ling knows very well that Nick will definitely not be able to tolerate his control being challenged, and he will definitely fight for the ball more actively.

She has a way of coping.

The QPR players on the field moved quickly, with Leon and Michy Batshuayi all concentrating on the right side to support Genk. Although the QPR can no longer find Genk directly, it can directly make a long pass for the two strikers to fight for, and then give it to Genk.

Everton's soft underbelly was centralized. Since Nick requires the overall pressure to be more intense, there is more room for exposure.

Genk made two long-range runs over the next three minutes, both of which came close to levelising, one with a pass to Michy Batshuayi that went just high and another that was saved by Renato for a corner.

Nicholas turned his head to the TV. On TV, he stood on the sidelines dressed in black, his facial expression and body language a little out of control.

It was those three minutes.

Lu Ling also watched TV.

That's it, three minutes.

Nicholas spotted the girl's change – she was more sophisticated, gathering three attackers along the way was a risky move, and it was easy to throw the team off balance, but Everton was too much in control of it.

Therefore, after those three minutes, he was forced to make a substitution, replacing the defensively poor Oliver Torres and replacing a defensive midfielder, Senegalese Idrissa Gueye, with Van der Burgh in a back two to strengthen the defence.

In the BBC highlights, the substitution was only flashed in the form of subtitles.

But both men understand that this is the real turning point in the game.

Gueye is a very good defensive player. However, his lack of technical ability, not even as good as the two centre-backs, could disconnect Gueye from the team. It has to be said that this is not necessarily fatal, because Everton have so many skilled people who can take the ball.

If, if the opponent is not you.

Nicholas glanced at the girl with her head slightly raised, she didn't look at him, she was still staring at the TV. But she must have known that he had seen her. There was a slight smug on her face, not very noticeable. He raised his glass, and he suddenly realized that at that time, she had actually guessed that he would change people like this.

Yes, the Everton manager's move was completely expected by Lu Ling.

For the first time in a long time, Lu Ling felt the thrill of controlling others.

Moreover, the opponent is still Nick. 166 Reading Network