The fans at the new Queen's Park Stadium gradually dispersed as they came out of the stadium. They will return home on foot or by various means of transport. Until then, though, some of them might have to go to the tavern for a few drinks with the old guys. The weekend has ended with a bad result for QPR fans, and tomorrow is Monday.

But inside Wembley Stadium, another stadium in west London, the Carabao Cup final, Everton's match against Liverpool is about to begin.

The result of that game was told to Lu Ling by first-team coach George. Everton won 2-1 against Liverpool, and according to George, the two teams fought fiercely throughout the game, with Liverpool scoring first through Philippe Coutinho, but Everton completed the comeback with two goals from Ross Barkley in the second half and won the victory.

This means that Nick won the first championship of his coaching career. Lu Ling sent him a message.

【Congratulations!】

She received a reply a few minutes later.

[Thank you, I'm looking forward to the next one.] 】

The headline of the night, apart from the conspicuous "bossross" (big winner Ross), the most eye-catching was "Tottenham fans may be accused again for sexism".

In fact, Lu Ling was asked at the post-match press conference what she thought of the sexist remarks of individual Tottenham fans, but she did not answer the question. Losing was bad enough that she definitely didn't want to talk about anything outside of the game. And, about those few words of Tottenham fans...... She may be hypocritical, but at least she's not proud of it. In any case, more than a year ago, she made it clear on Motd that she wouldn't date her players. But the reality now is a different story.

Tim said David King and that gossip account on Twitter wouldn't let her get away with it so easily. Tim may be right, but Lu Ling's mind is all about the next game against Arsenal, and she won't let these things affect her.

Sure enough, at 11 o'clock that night, an article signed by David King appeared on the official website of The Sun.

The article said: "Tottenham fans are just singing a song that may be true, and if this is to be charged, then all the ridicule of Christine Lue must be banned? And, this time, Christine handled it smarter, and she didn't respond to it at all. If none of the parties responded, then the accusations are undoubtedly laughable. ”

****

Two weeks later.

Lu Ling poured some milk into the bowl first, then put the milk in the microwave and heated it for a minute, and at this minute she went to get the cereal and toasted the bread. With a clang, she took out the milk and put it on the table, she went to get the spoon and put it in it, and began to pour the cereal. She poured a little more, but she didn't pay much attention to it. The bread has popped out. She opened the refrigerator. There were two boxes of butter in the fridge. A box of low-fat, a box of normal.

"Low-fat butter tastes like. Sometimes, when they were having breakfast together in the morning, Patrick would pout and say something like that. Full of childish dissatisfaction. In fact, she knew that if she gave him normal butter, he would change it to a low-fat one himself.

She moved her hand over the low-fat butter box and pulled it out.

The guy was in La Liga, and his form continued to be hot for the past two weeks, and he did get rid of the endless winds and rain.

After Lu Ling sat down, he took the "Post" over.

You can also smell the fresh ink.

Saturday, March 10, 2018.

She first looked at the hot news, and then turned to the back page. She watched as she began to butter the bread.

"The two upstarts are in real trouble, Lu and Flores, who will come out first?"

On the spread out of the newspaper, on one side is her sitting in the coach's seat with a gloomy face, and on the other hand, the moment when Nick kicks the mineral water bottle away. The article is very long and takes up two full pages along with the pictures. Maybe she won't finish reading it at all, she thought. She put down the knife and took a bite of bread, a bit of crumbs scattered on the newspaper, and she shivered.

'The momentum of QPR's previous four-game winning streak has been very good, but facing two London derbies in a row in a week has given them a real challenge. As many predicted, the team without Patrick Amber won't be revealed until they actually face a tough opponent. Three days after the defeat to Tottenham, they insisted on playing the same line-up against Arsenal, but it looked like Artem Dzyuba could not afford the intensity of the game. ”

Seeing this, Lu Ling frowned. She put down the baked bread, pulled the milk bowl over, and accidentally spilled some milk on the newspaper.

She pushed the milk bowl back and wiped it with a tissue. The eyes never completely off the newspaper.

In that game, the intensity was really high. But what reporters couldn't have known, and most importantly, was that the game didn't go exactly the way she had planned.

Dzyuba wasn't much of a problem with his physical condition, at least not from the start, but Allegri's tactics left the Russians extremely mentally exhausted.

The Arsenal boss did not put too much emphasis on the first point, but instead limited the receiving points around Dzyuba, which worked very well, causing Dzyuba to deviate from the tactics and retreat to the ball himself many times, which in turn disrupted the rhythm of the attack.

Italians are always good at targeting, and Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, also an Italian, has already made her suffer. And in the two encounters with Allegri this season, Lu Ling was planted.

Arsenal opened the scoring with a goal from Aaron Ramsey. And it wasn't until the second half of the second half that QPR found its senses. It was thanks to the excellent play of Hoel Campbell that the Costa Rican used as the second fulcrum to assist Dzyuba and get the attack back in action.

But they only had time to score one goal. León's goal gave QPR a draw.

Later, she couldn't help but wonder if she had given up the win against Tottenham and switched to a draw, would it be possible to win the game against Arsenal? In that case, she would have won four points from the two London derbies instead of one.

Of course, it's not that she regrets it, it's not that she doubts herself, it's just that as a manager, she needs to constantly reflect. Only then will she be able to get something out of it. But in fact, she has always hated watching lost games, and she has always hated making another assumption about what has happened - she has no choice.

Lu Ling took the milk bowl back and absentmindedly sent a spoonful to his mouth.

"And, in the league on Wednesday night, which kicks off at the same time, Everton may have been in poor form because they were too consumed in the Carabao Cup final. And due to the vicious battle with Paris in the Champions League, Lukaku and Van der Bergh were injured and sidelined, which made Everton once fall behind Stoke City 1:3. That night, the winds at Britannia Stadium put the Toffees in an extremely difficult situation. But the Everton manager's miraculous change of formation saw them score twice in the final 20 minutes of the game and barely managed to secure a 3-3 draw. ”

'It's clear that Everton are showing signs of fatigue and the draw with Stoke City was perhaps a testament to the Spaniard's tactical wisdom when the leaders might not have even picked up a point. But their continued lackluster performance against Newcastle has raised questions about Flores' ability as a young coach to cope with a busy schedule. ”

Lu Ling raised his head and thought for a while. She watched the Everton game against Newcastle with the coaching staff, as the QPR was about to play Everton. To be fair, Everton's recent fixture schedule has been insane, with the FA Cup, League Cup final, Champions League knockout rounds and the Premier League's intensified fixture schedule leaving Everton facing two games a week. The absence of Lukaku and Van der Bergh, the two absolute main players, is difficult to fully compensate for with tactics to a certain extent.

What's more, in the game against Newcastle, Barkley also suffered a minor injury and was substituted at half-time. In that game, Everton ended up playing 2-2 with Newcastle. Everton suffered two consecutive league draws.

Of course, this is good news for QPR, and even more so for other chasers.

"In the last round of the Premier League, QPR won but their performance was arguably the worst of the season so far, even worse than in January. Lu seems to be struggling to choose between a back three and a back four. But in the end they won and luck helped them. ”

Lu Ling looked out the window, and the sky was gradually starting to light up earlier and earlier.

As the Post put it, the team played very poorly at Bournemouth. Dzyuba was put back on the bench but was brought on in the second half, which may seem like a two-pronged act, but she is still convinced that she was right from the decision she made a week ago.

So what's the problem?

The reason may be non-tactical or even non-competitive. In this game, Vargas, who regained his starting position, was in poor form. The Chilean may have been unhappy about losing his place in the main team – perhaps simply frustration, and that certainly showed on the pitch.

Tim had advised her to use Joey Freeman in place of Vargas, but she had some doubts about the young winger's ability to withstand pressure. But Vargas's performance disappointed her. And Zixiang, who was also on the left side, was also affected because of Vargas's too many mistakes, and the two even quarreled directly on the field.

After that, Zixiang had several rash forward cuts and blind dribbling errors, which led to Glenn Mitchell needing to keep making a lot of fills on this side. As a further result, the Yorkshire boys, who started the game, were replaced by Nedham in the second half with a slight hamstring injury due to fatigue.

The team went from falling to the top of the table, to three consecutive 0-0 games, and then to four ** wins...... After four consecutive wins, they lost to Tottenham and drew with Arsenal...... This up-and-down pressure is eating away at the positive mentality of the players little by little.

Despite her rousing speech in the locker room after Patrick's departure, the departure of a superstar is not going to be as easy as the headlines.

The whole first half of the season went so smoothly......

The first defeat in the league in December was unexpected.

The QPR has never been a real giant. Most of the players are too young, she herself is too young, and the whole club does not have a complete strong mentality, not strong enough nerves.

A person who is not originally a strong person stands on a high place and is always afraid of falling if he is not careful.

This subtle change in mindset creates a domino effect.

Dzyuba who came on as a substitute fell down after confronting Bournemouth central defender Steven Cook in the penalty area in the 84th minute, but this time, it can be clearly seen in the replay that Dzyuba has more movement in his hands, and Cook is subconsciously using his hands to maintain balance when he is pulled by Russia, and as a result, Dzyuba is also brought down. Many referees will choose not to blow, or blow for a foul on Dyuba.

But the referee on duty, Andre Marriner, gave QPR a penalty and Leon then converted the penalty to give his team a 1-0 victory.

This is indeed luck.

"The top two teams in the league started to stumble, but the teams behind them were really brave. United didn't drop a point during that period, even beating Tottenham 3-0, while Manchester City also won two games in a row with a game in hand. Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea didn't make too many mistakes. ”

It's bad. Lu Ling thought to himself. It's bad.

On one side of the Post article, the current standings after 29 rounds of Premier League play are listed:

Everton 21-5-268 59:23 [1 game less]

qpr20-7-267 minutes 68:18

Manchester United 20-5-465 49:24

Manchester City 19-6-363 67:25 [1 less game]

Liverpool 19-4-561 points 50:29 [1 less game]

Chelsea 17-9-260 50:30

Arsenal 16-8-356 47:26 [1 game less]

The second place in the QPR is in jeopardy, while Everton's top spot looks less secure.

"In Thursday's Europa League, QPR was forced to rotate. They narrowly managed to draw 2-2 with Juventus, and the fact that they were only scored two away goals was a good result. Everton were given a rare week of rest, but Romelu Lukaku still hasn't returned to training and Donny van der Bergh and Ross Barkley are in doubt. ”

So, what kind of top-of-the-table matchup are we going to see on Sunday? What is safe is that the outcome of this clash between Kristen Lue and Nicolas Flores is likely to be something that the next few teams will be happy to see. The race for the title, and even for a Champions League spot, could change dramatically this Sunday. ”

At yesterday's pre-game press conference, neither she nor Nick joked with reporters, let alone had any "air conversations", which were two boring press conferences.

Mirror reporter John Krauss tweeted that it was the most boring pre-game press conference for Kristen Lue he had ever attended, and the reporter who immediately went to Nicholas' pre-game press conference declared that today's press conference was the most boring Nick Flores pre-game press conference he had ever attended.

Where did the chemistry between these two men go when they played each other in December?

Actually, the logic is very simple. In December, both teams were in hot form, hoping to win each other and win the halfway round, but now, as the Post puts it, both teams are in real trouble. Who would have the heart to make even half a joke.

Lu Ling closed the newspaper and looked at her watch, she should go to Harrington. She got up and went back to the living room to get her phone that was charging, and when she unplugged it, it showed that she had received a new email. She clicked on it and saw that it was Alice.

The mail is short. But the good news, at least most likely. This made Lu Ling's originally depressed mood improve a little. She sat down on the couch and quickly replied to the email. Another message to Patrick: "Low-fat butter does taste like, but I baked the bread too. 】

He quickly replied to her: "I told you. 】

Another one came over: [I miss you. 】

Lu Ling smiled and replied with the same words.

She went to the bathroom before leaving. She glanced at the floor under the shower head, where there was some hair that had fallen out, she grabbed a tissue, picked it up, and threw it in the trash.

****

Chloe felt like she was about to fall asleep!literally!!, but Henry's words had made her wake up a little.

"I've been looking forward to it for months. Ever since they played each other in December, I've been looking forward to their showdown in March. Who would have thought it would be the most boring game I've watched this season. Even if West Bromwich Albion played Sunderland it would be more fun than that, at least I could bet Jamie who would be the centre-back who would score for West Brom today?" (West Bromwich Albion's starting eleven often had at least four centre-backs and was often teased.) ）

Jamie Carragher chuckled several times in a nasal voice, "It's boring indeed. However, it is understandable. The season is too long, and sometimes it is like this when two strong teams face off in a low period. There's no crazy offense or a ferocious defense, and you feel like all the players on the pitch just want to pass those 90 minutes, get a point, go back to the locker room, take a hot shower, go back and sleep with the woman......"

"But it's Christine and Nick after all!" Chloe widened her eyelids.

"That's right. Henry put his chin on his chin with a different hand, "Doesn't Christine want to get revenge on her new home court? ”

This is a private conversation between the host and the guests watching the live broadcast on the big screen in the Sky Sports studio.

Henry and Carragher were still a little worried about the later show - what the is there to analyze? It's a boring game.

The game time on the big screen showed that it had entered stoppage time, and the score was 0:0.

****

Nicholas sat in the away dugout at the new Queen's Park. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, hands clasped. After a while, he let go of his hand and looked at his watch, where there were more than two minutes left in stoppage time.

In this game, she lined up the same 4231 formation as him. Balance between offense and defense.

In the eyes of others, this may be a boring game. But Nicholas knew it wasn't.

At half-time he looked at the stats. Possession is six/four, she is six, he is four. She had 5 shots on goal, he 4, and 1 shot on target. The number of corners is 2. The heat map shows that the hot spots of the players on both sides are concentrated in the center circle, which means that both sides play very little into the opponent's penalty area.

Interestingly, the distance run. The players on both sides actually ran more.

In fact, there are two reasons for the dullness of the game: the first is that there are few quick offensive and defensive transitions, and the second is that although the attacks on both sides have a lot of movement, they can effectively limit each other defensively, so there is no absolute chance.

She seemed to be trying. How to grind down a strong team without a superstar Patrick in the team, and Leon, the team's most skilled player, is not in high form.

Of course she wants to win, just like he wants to win, but not all of them are reflected in beautiful stats and fierce scrambles, let alone in body language.

In the second half, she sat in the dugout for most of the game, and so did he. The wind in West London is as strong as ever, but it's not cloudy today, with blue skies and white clouds.

They have to be cautious because there is a bottom line behind winning – you can't lose.

After 60 minutes, she and he coincidentally changed into a three-centre-back formation. When defending, they retreat to a back five.

They can all accept a draw, but they must not accept a loss. What's more, after becoming a back five, there are still means of attacking, but this kind of attack has become relatively simple and lacks strategy.

Nicholas stood up and walked to the sidelines. He was holding a bottle of mineral water. In his eyes, without Patrick's QPR, there is something missing at the level of personal ability that can explode in an instant. Leon Ferreira is a highly talented striker who could be one of the best strikers in the world in the future, but he can't replace Patrick's instant blasting ability.

But Everton have such players.

Ousmane Dembele. It's true that Osman didn't have to send Pathric – yes, in two years, with the possible exception of Manchester City's Gabriel Jesus, Pactric has left behind the young talents who rose up at the same time as him.

Nicolas commanded the team's defensive positioning, while telling Ousmane Dembele to move slightly down the middle while defending his side.

In the 93rd minute, Everton's long pass led Dembele into the box with a one-on-one effort, and he flashed past Mensah and Glenn before Hans.

Dembele fired into the empty net from a tight angle, but Mario was quick to get back to the line and barely cleared the ball.

Ross Barkley, who came off the bench from injury, followed up with a blast that hit Hans straight into the face. The German shook slightly, and immediately desperately cradled the ball into his arms.

Nicholas squeezed the mineral water bottle in his hand vigorously.

Luck!?

Referee Atkinson blew the whistle and the game was over.

The third meeting between Kristen Lu and Nicolas Flores ended 0:0.

They shook hands and quickly staggered. Their attention is on encouraging their own players.

****

Accept a TV interview, go back to the locker room for a brief game summary speech, and then go to the post-match press conference. It's a routine after every game.

Lu Ling was always in a trance after coming out of the press conference. She's not in a good mood, but it's not too bad either. 1 point is her bottom line. Of course, if she can get the three points - she didn't think about it anymore, she knows very well that this Everton absence is her best chance to get revenge. But no one knows better than her what kind of state her team is in. That's not something that a few words of peptalk can solve.

Her mind began to go through the details of the game scene by scene, was there anything she could have done but didn't?

But her thoughts didn't last long, and she later ran into Everton's director of football, Steve Walsh, in the players' tunnel. She was polite to him, and in just a minute or two of conversation, she had even thought about the possibility of poaching this person. Although this is not at all something she can decide.

"Steve, there's something wrong with the bus, we might have to wait a while before we can go. Everton's goalkeeper shouted at him.

Steve Walsh nodded his head in the know. Then he pouted with the QPR boss and lamented, "Badluck, huh?"

Lu Ling then remembered the attack before Everton's final outpost, and she sneered, "S." (Bad things happen.) ）

"Christine. An abrupt, familiar male voice sounded behind her.

Lu Ling turned his head and smiled, "I just heard that there was a problem with your bus." ”

Nicholas shrugged his shoulders and walked over and said exactly the same thing as Everton's director of football. Lu Ling and Steve Walsh looked at each other and smiled. Walsh looked at the two of them, said sorry for being absent for a while, and left.

As soon as Walsh left, Nicholas did not hesitate and asked directly, "Would you like to invite me for a drink?" ”

Lu Ling was a little surprised, she shrugged her shoulders and closed her lips. Her shoulders didn't relax, and her mouth never opened.

He always looked at her with a slight smile, as if he would gladly accept whether she agreed or refused.

"Well, why not?" she said at last, "I'll call Tim." Last time, Juan also said that he wanted to have a drink after the game. She said as she prepared to go to Tim.

Nicholas grabbed her wrist abruptly.

At this time, there were many people coming and going in the players' tunnel, players from both teams, coaches, QPR staff, and journalists who were allowed to enter the area.

Nicholas immediately let go and said sorry. The smile on his face had been put away, and his voice was low, "It's just a glass of wine, do you take your teaching assistant with you when you drink with Jose?"

She just wanted to speak.

He looked into her eyes, the corners of his mouth curled, and his voice was lowered a little: "What are you afraid of? I won't kiss you or anything else." ”

Lu Ling stared at his dark brown eyes for a second, then quietly turned his gaze away and said indifferently, "I'm sure you won't." I have an office upstairs. However, I'll have to have someone go to the restaurant to get a bottle of wine, there may not be your favorite, do you mind?"

The Everton boss smiled again, "What I like is not so easy to buy. Oh, wait a minute, I need to talk to Juan. I didn't have my phone with me, and I didn't want everyone to leave me alone in London in the bus. 166 Reading Network