Tim said for a long time, but Lu Ling didn't interject, she just got up from her seat halfway through and poured herself a glass of ice water. The cold liquid rolled from her lips and tongue into her stomach, bringing with it lucidity. Tim has been in Italy for a long time, and he knows the characteristics and essence of Italian football and has his own opinions. Although quite a few of them were things that Lu Ling already knew and agreed with, there were also some points that she hadn't thought about before. This gave her some inspiration.

In fact, she doesn't remember the first time she and Tim have talked about Italian football, from St. George's Park to Harrington's training base. Still, she learns something new every time she talks. It's clear that Tim's perception of football is constantly changing and improving.

Managers should learn from their failures. No one starts out as a master. It's just that sometimes, even if you recognize something, it's two different things from how you implement, correct, and coordinate it from the actual combat level.

Lu Ling made some notes in her notebook, and then she thanked the teaching assistant and didn't express her opinion too much, she just said, "I need to think about it." ”

Tim asked, "Christine, I'm a little worried about you, aren't you...... Did this loss hit you?"

Last season's first defeat was given by Arsenal, and it is still the case this season. In the world of football, there are often some strange coincidences, like fate, like cycles. Or maybe not just in the world of football.

Lu Ling drank all the ice water in the plastic cup and shook her head, her expression was very serious, but because the corners of her eyes were slightly upturned, she looked like she was smiling.

"No, no, I just need to think about it. We'll have a meeting with the coaching staff later, and we'll talk about that later. She said.

Still worried, Tim nodded and left her office.

Lu Ling stared at the door that had been closed for a few seconds, and then stood up from his seat. She walked over to the tactical board, which was where some of her previous thoughts against Arsenal were on it. Now it seems that there is something wrong with her train of thought. And it's clear that Allegri is more thoughtful than she thinks.

She hasn't played professional football, not even a semi-professional league, and while she's been trying hard to emphasize and prove that it doesn't matter, in reality, she doesn't have some of the strengths that many of her peers are "born with". So, she's always studied tactics more than they did, and she didn't dare to watch the games with Bielsa, but she'd certainly seen more games than many coaches. On a purely tactical level, she doesn't even think she's much worse than Nick – maybe that's still a humble statement.

The battle with Allegri made her instantly see her many shortcomings. Having studied the tactics and philosophies of Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola, as well as the likes of Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger, she has always been interested in Italian football, but it wasn't until this game that she felt she might have only scratched the surface of Italian football.

Football is not a sport that can be fully quantified, many sports are, but football is not. It's complicated, and a lot of times, it doesn't have a standard answer. No football coach, no matter how many championships he has won and how impressive his record is, will not dare to say that he has mastered the mysteries of the sport.

Lu Ling wasn't prepared to blame herself too much, but she did have some frustration. Her biggest previous setback came from Nicolas Flores. But they knew each other, she lost to him, and the instability was eliminated and, on a considerable level, after the game, she was very clear why. The defeat to Allegri was not the same, though.

Another level of frustration came from her feeling that every victory after Pat left. The team has been maturing since the end of last season, and there are new players coming in this season, but there's no denying that the team is still in the throes of losing Patrick Amber.

What a superstar can do on the field, sometimes several players can't do together.

No, that's not what she wants. She's going to have a long, very long career, and she can't coach a team with superstars forever – not to mention that players like Messi and Patrick don't pop up every year.

Lu Ling's gaze was still on the tactical board.

At that time, Nick stood in this position-

She asked him behind him: "Eleven men spread evenly across the pitch, it seems reasonable, but the most important thing is to attack and defend around a local area, and a central star in the midfield position is very important, don't you think?"

He replied to her: "Yes, I agree with you, but not every team can have a good midfielder. Then, it is also important to have several good players in a part. If you don't have a good striker, then split his responsibilities. ”

Later, she stood in Nick's place -

Behind her, Pat asked, "Tina, if you were a pro, what position would you most like to play?"

She didn't hesitate: "Your position." ”

In a sense, the core of these two dialogues is the same.

Only, when Nick turned his face, his eyes were unfathomable, and when she looked back at Pat, Pat's eyes were clear.

Lu Ling looked out the window, she needed to think about how to win all the games that should be won. In the league, it's not terrible to lose.

****

Everton continued to win after all of the Premier League rounds were over, comfortably beating Ayto Karanka's Middlesbrough 3-0 away and Felipe Delgado netting a goal on his debut.

After the end of the fourth round, Everton has 12 points and maintains a winning state, while QPR has been stretched by Knick's team by 5 points and ranks fifth in the league, while Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal are all 3 points more than QPR.

And next, the first Champions League game of Lu Ling's coaching career is coming.

The QPR will take on Swiss champions Basel at the New Queen's Park on Tuesday night – a limited squad that has caused problems for many Premier League teams in the past.

****

In September, the nights in London are slightly cooler.

Lu Ling stood on the sidelines as the head coach for the first time, listening to the Champions League theme song. As Leicester boss Claudio Ranieri once described, the music is so passionate and beautiful that it is fascinating.

In the summer of 2017, she wept over missing out on Champions League qualification. Today, she is also the manager of a Champions League team.

When the music fell, Lu Ling took her hand out of her pocket and applauded like everyone in the court, and then she subconsciously pulled the corner of her clothes. She was dressed very formally today, and in any case, it was a night to remember, and it was going to be a very meaningful game. For Queens Park Rangers, for her, for many teams and fans.

And in the box at the new Queen's Park stadium, Nathaniel Lawrence and Toni Fernandez also appeared. The live camera swept over the Americans and Malaysians and then returned to the QPR manager.

She sat back in the dugout and drank some water. The commentator teased: "She looks a little excited, although she just lost to Arsenal in the league, but I think Lu should not be in a bad mood at the moment." ”

Lu Ling was indeed very excited. The opponent was not very strong, and with the advice of Tim and the strength and conditioning coach, she made some rotations. Leon was on the bench, while Mitsy Batshuayi was given a chance to start.

The camera pans to Phil Warren's face behind the QPR manager.

Phil frowned and stared at the field. The most important thing for him today is: whether he can play or not. He wore the number 7 jersey under his jacket.

Ever since Patrick left, No. 7 had been empty. Thorin, Henk, Claudio, and Missy didn't choose this number, either because they didn't like it, or because they felt pressured to inherit Patrick's number.

However, when the last kid to join the team chose the number, he saw that the number 7 was empty, so he did not hesitate to say in front of the manager and the director of football: "Oh*, the number at the top is so empty, I want it!"

So, now QPR's No. 7 jersey has a big "Phil" printed on it. Phil Warren didn't like his last name because his biological father abandoned him when he was very young, he never let anyone call him "Warren", and only the abbreviation of his first name "Philip" was printed on the jersey, which is Phil.

When fans learned that the "unknown amateur player" (a title that has been on Phil's head since he joined) was wearing the shirt, many took to social media to mock him and question him. But anyway, the manager gave him the number.

Even some media ridiculed this incident -

"Lu has found Amber's replacement"

It was interesting to see what Patrick, who was already Barca's No.7, would think about it, but it was disappointing that Patrick never said anything about it.

What people won't know is that Lu Ling did ask Patrick on the phone what he was like.

Patrick said: "The number seven is special to me, but for the club I know it's nothing special, he likes it, you give it, that's his. But I don't think it's fair to compare him to me. He laughed as he spoke.

****

Thirty minutes into the first half, it was already 2-0 on the scoreboard at the new Queen's Park, with Mitsy Batshuayi scoring two goals alone.

Phil was in a jolting mood on the bench, and he figured that in the second half, it would be his time to act. If you score a goal, it's a £800 goal bonus!

He squinted at the manager who was standing on the sideline, this kind of game, this bitch is still so serious on the sidelines, the opponent doesn't look very good. Maybe you're afraid of losing after losing to Arsenal?

At the end of the first half, BPR 2:0 Basel.

After entering the locker room, Phil kept leaning in front of Lu Ling, wanting her to notice that he was a substitute player who wanted to play. Tim couldn't help but laugh, and Lu Ling smiled, but not at Phil.

'Well done! In the second half we had to make sure we didn't concede the ball, so we kept the tempo and tried to keep the ball at our feet. ”

Oh,. It's good to go up and get the prize money so I can get the prize. Phil stared at the manager.

Hans, who was sitting next to him, glanced at the hairspray head dangling like ADHD and sighed.

****

In the 60th minute of the game, QPR scored another goal by Ian, and Lu Ling was ready to make a substitution.

Phil leaned back in his seat depressedly. Mitsy Batshuayi was replaced, but with the Costa Rican (Hoel Campbell). *, this bitch didn't even call me to warm up. Didn't this game already be won? That Costa Rican is so short, he went to play center?

In the 70th minute, Lu Ling made another substitution, and it was Joey Tomlin who replaced John. After that, she turned around and asked Phil to warm up.

Phil happily ran to the sidelines to stretch and jog. John, who was replaced, happened to see his expression, and then said to Joey Freeman next to him: "Is this guy having a problem with his brain?"

Joey shrugged, "I don't know, like a clown." ”

In the 81st minute, it was finally Phil's turn to play.

He wasn't happy with the time he was replaced, but he thought about it, after all, he had scored a hat-trick in ten minutes in the past (albeit in the eighth tier) and should still be able to score. The Swiss team over there doesn't want to play anymore, right?

Phil's first touch of the ball on his debut came in the fifth minute after he came on.

For a long time, QPR's teammates were upside down in the backcourt, and the ball was given forward with very inaccurate big feet, and as a result, Phil couldn't touch the ball when he ran around.

This time, captain Ian finally stuffed him with a good ball. Phil was excited, turned around, saw the Basel defender opposite, and directly wanted to pass.

Then he didn't take the ball well, took it directly to the opponent's foot, and threw it away.

Phil also fell directly to the ground, and then pounded the ground in frustration. Then he got up and turned his head to see the bitch yelling at him, "Phil, get up and go back to defense!"

*。 He spat out a word and ran back.

Finally, when the game went into stoppage time, he got the ball again, this time on the left, far from goal. You can't score goals in this position.

He took two steps, this time in a good state of mind, and walked directly out of the two-person bag, and then gave it to Jacob next to him.

Jacob went forward, gave Campbell to the forward. The Costa Rican turned around and gave the ball to Phil.

It's still outside the box, but it's in this position to shoot! Phil didn't hesitate to raise his foot and shoot.

£800 prize ......

Lu Ling saw Phil Mou's long-range shot, and in all fairness, he shot well. However, it was saved by the opposing goalkeeper.

Phil stood there and yelled, but at the same time, Jacob slatted past him at high speed and hit the ball in.

His teammates rushed to Jacob and patted him on the head. Phil shook his head in frustration and ran slowly towards Jacob, thinking at the same time that this stunned young boy with a northeastern accent had picked up my cheapness. He owes me 800 pounds!!

Ian happened to run this way too, and the Scot patted Phil on the head and said, "Shoot well, Phil." "Then I went to congratulate Jacob on his first Champions League goal.

Phil inexplicably perked up again. He stood there for a moment. And then run to the crowd of teammates.

Lu Ling, who had already returned to the coach's seat, tilted his head and said to Tim: "I haven't brought a player of this kind of intelligence yet." You know who I'm talking about. ”

Tim smiled bitterly, "If I were you, I would have a headache." ”

In the end, QPR won the first match of the Champions League with a score of 4:0.

In addition, Patrick's Barcelona also beat Fenerbahce 4-0 at home on the first Champions League matchday, and Patrick scored his first Champions League goal, in fact, he scored twice. It was his first goal for Barcelona since recovering from injury this season. In addition, in the Premier League, Everton beat Greek champion Olympiacos 5-0. 166 Reading Network