Selhurst Park, away bench.

Chelsea's substitutes were all uncomfortable.

It's mid-October, and the temperature in London has dropped a lot, even if the weather is good today, the maximum temperature is only a dozen degrees.

But their hearts are colder now.

With two goals down on the road and one man less on the pitch, it's really hard not to mutter.

"Why don't you change people?"

"Why hasn't the boss adjusted?"

"The boss won't give up, will he?"

The most puzzling thing is that in fact, from the beginning of the second half, Pan Yi had already asked the substitute players to do preparatory activities.

So they run out every once in a while to warm up, and when they come back, they quickly put on long-sleeved training clothes to keep their bodies warm so that they can play at any time.

But the question is, it's 70 minutes now, why haven't you changed it yet?

In addition to consolidating the defence with Branislav Ivanovic for Bench B in the first half, Chelsea now have two substitutions to spare.

It stands to reason that even if it is a normal game, Pan Yi is almost ready to change people during this time period, but there has been no movement for half a day today.

And now it's behind again, and of course the players will be anxious!

At this time, Pan Yi suddenly turned around and looked at the bench.

For a moment, all the attention of everyone in the coach's bench and on the bench fell on him, all excitedly waiting for him to give the order.

They know it's finally time for the boss to make adjustments!

"You two, get ready."

Pan Yi pointed to Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard.

All the coaches, as well as the substitutes, nodded.

That's pretty much the best adjustment they can think of.

Now is the critical moment of backwardness, and it is natural to go to the team's most impactful main striker to fight for the goal.

The two of them have a tacit understanding in themselves, and their ability is better than that of Bamford and Schurrle on the field now.

Therefore, even those substitutes who have not been named feel that Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard are the best options at this time.

And Pan Yi whispered a few words to Lukaku and Hazard, and then asked the fourth official to prepare for a substitution.

Chelsea strikers Bamford and Schurrle saw it, understood the manager's intentions and were ready to move to the sidelines to make the substitution as soon as possible.

After all, time is precious now!

Crystal Palace fans inside Selhurst Park also saw it.

They instantly understood that Chelsea was preparing to replace the attacking combination with a stronger pair, and Pan Yi was going to make a last ditch!

As a result, there were boos for a while, this is Crystal Palace fans helping their team to put pressure on the opposing substitutes! ——

"Hehe, I guessed it a long time ago."

On the home side's dugout, Neil Warnock looked at the fourth official and the Chelsea players standing on the other side of the halfway line and laughed.

"It seems that Pan Yi is nothing more than that. The whole world knows that he is going to be their main striker at this time, right? ”

"It's a pity, it's too late to know that the enemy is underestimated! Dare to hide so many main forces in our game, hehe......"

"And do you think we don't have a way to deal with your trick?"

For Pan Yi has not been replaced, Warnock has certainly thought about it.

He also discussed with the assistant coaches, and finally came to the conclusion that Pan Yi wanted to make another substitution after 70 minutes, so that he could use heavy weapons such as Lukaku to attack when the fitness of the Crystal Palace players was declining.

As for Hazard, that, of course, was for him to deliver shells to his Belgian fellow.

So, it's all in Warnock's hands!

So, Neil Warnock turned around and shouted at a tall centre-back on the bench: "Brad, go warm up now, ready to play!" ”

"Understood." Brad Hangrande, who was sitting on the bench, immediately stood up.

This is a tall defender from Norway and an experienced veteran with 84 national team selections.

He is 194cm tall and weighs 91kg, which is an out-and-out big guy!

Use him to deal with a hairy kid like Lukaku, it's definitely no problem!

Watching Brad Hangrand run to warm up, Neil Warnock turned his head with a smile.

At this time, Warnock's eyes almost popped out.

Because what he saw in his eyes now seemed to be a little different from what he had imagined.

At this time, it was actually Chelsea's two central defenders, Terry and Ake, who ran down from the field!

Pan Yi used two forwards to replace two central defenders!

Warnock blurted out a native British foul language: "Wang Defa, what is the situation?" ”

——

What's more, Warnock looked confused?

All the Crystal Palace fans and Chelsea fans present, including various commentators, guests, and even Terry and Ake, who were substituted by Chelsea, were a bit confused.

It's really a bit nonsensical now, how can there be such a change?

'On 71 minutes, Chelsea asked for a substitution.'

"Everyone thinks this substitution is necessary, but what everyone didn't expect is that Pan Yi replaced Terry and Ake with Hazard and Lukaku!"

'If you do that, Chelsea will only have one centre-back at Zouma and four strikers at the same time!'

"Even if it's two goals behind, it's too desperate???"

"Pan Yi is Pan Yi after all! He's always able to pull the ...... of the unexpected."

'Given how often his previous magical substitutions have worked, I'd like to take a look at where the Chelsea players stand after the substitutions.

The game on the field soon restarted.

Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard came on and did run towards the forward line, and after a little more play, Chelsea's new formation slowly emerged.

Romelu Lukaku and Bamford now form a central striker, with Eden Hazard and Schurrle forming a two-sided striker to and from their flank.

Behind them, N'Golo Kante and Nemanja Matic continue to support them in a back two-man position.

Standing at the back, Zuma is really the only one!

However, the two wing-backs, Marcos Alonso and Branislav Ivanovic, have dropped back significantly, so that Chelsea have formed a back three in many cases.

In other words, Chelsea's formation at this time is actually a bankrupt version of a highly offensive 4-2-4 formation.

After all, there's one less person!

So this formation is also 3-2-4.

Three defenders, two midfielders, plus four strikers!

When defending, Marcos Alonso and Branislav Ivanovic are wing-backs, but they are both tall and have good defensive ability, so they can be used as central defenders.

When attacking, the two wing-backs will quickly plug in, echoing the four strikers in front of them, and in an instant it will become a six-man attacking line.

At this point, Chelsea's formation will become a more terrifying 1-2-6, with a more aggressive attack on the Crystal Palace defence!

'We could see that Chelsea seemed to be able to get under control very quickly after the substitutions.

"Is it really that effective? That's amazing, isn't it? ”

"Actually, it's not hard to understand when you think about it. The individual quality of the Chelsea players was already stronger than Crystal Palace, and the previous hour of the game itself did not fall behind. ”

'Players like Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard have been in great form lately and they are coming off the bench now and are a real force to play. And the Crystal Palace players have more or less reduced their physical strength after more than an hour of fighting. ”

Moreover, Pan Yi's sudden life-fighting style also caught the Crystal Palace a little off guard, and he didn't know how to deal with it for a while. So now Chelsea have the upper hand on the pitch, despite having one man to play. ”

"So now it's up to Crystal Palace to see if they can withstand this wave...... Wait, let's see this Chelsea attack! ”

At this moment, the entire Selhurst Park stadium was letting out an exclamation.

It was supposed to be a Crystal Palace attack, but midfielder Macarthur was about to pass the ball when it was cut off by a quick-eyed N'Golo Kante, and then quickly handed the ball to Marcos Alonso on the left, and Chelsea launched a quick counter-attack!

Palace were also quick to return, and although Alonso wanted to move forward with the ball, Palace's right-back Martin Kelly and midfielder Jedinak were immediately caught up, and Alonso could only temporarily protect the ball and look for another opportunity.

But the ball is still on Chelsea's side.

Alonso soon spotted Lukaku running down the middle and crossed the ball to him in the middle.

This is also what Lukaku gave to him before Pan Yi came on the pitch.

That is, although he and Bamford are two central strikers, they will also have to pay special attention to taking turns to drop back and get the ball for the rest of the game today, acting as a forward or shadow striker.

After all, there is one less person on the field now!

At this time, everyone needs to run more and respond more actively, so that the whole team's operation will not suddenly get stuck in any link.

It's like this 3-2-4 formation, the top-heavy is obvious, and if the strikers don't drop back, there will be more space in the middle.

And Lukaku obviously listened to Pan Yi's words, and as soon as he saw that Alonso's side was blocked, he immediately turned around to pick it up.

The other striker, Bamford, was on the offside line at this time, so as to also press the opposition's central defenders and avoid their up-and-coming to create a partial numerical advantage.

At this time, Lukaku got the ball, which was a little past the arc of the center circle, close to the top of the opponent's penalty area.

Then, immediately, he heard a shout from his Belgian countryman, Eden Hazard: "Hanhan, this way! ”

"Hanhan" is the "nickname" that Pan Yi often calls Lukaku in the team recently, and then it quickly spread in the team, and everyone calls him that.

Romelu Lukaku was quick to see Eden Hazard starting on the left flank.

It was Chelsea's pull from the middle to the wing, and then from the wing to the middle, that has caused a small crack in Crystal Palace's defense.

There are no close defensive players next to Eden Hazard right now!

Lukaku almost as soon as he heard the word "Hanhan", he quickly kicked a through ball.

The ball went through the gap between Palace's centre-backs and wing-backs.

Eden Hazard then kicked his Hot Wheels, took the ball straight and sprinted towards the Palace penalty area!

"Look, Chelsea have made a one-on-one shot!"

'Eden Hazard's one-on-one !! Will he be able to score this goal? ”

At this time, Selhurst Park Stadium has suddenly changed from the exclamation just now, to the silence it is now.

Both the home Crystal Palace fans and the away Chelsea fans watched with bated breath as they watched the one-on-one goal that was a flash of lightning.

Speroni, the 35-year-old Argentine goalkeeper of Crystal Palace, was also very quick to react and abandoned the goal at the first time.

But Hazard is also very resilient.

I saw him make a feint to get up and shoot the goal, which deceived Speroni into falling to the ground to save;

But instead of shooting, Hazard suddenly swooped the ball wide and flashed past Speroni's entire body at his feet.

"It's over, it's a nice shaking!"

"Now in front of Hazard, there is only one unguarded gate!"

Hazard gave him a gentle push...... The ball is in!!!! ”

“GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL！！！！！！”

'Chelsea took advantage of this quick counter-attack and pulled a goal back!'

'If I'm not mistaken, it was Romelu Lukaku and Eden Hazard's first touch of the ball after coming off the bench!'

"It was the first time between the two of them, and it was a wonderful goal! Crystal Palace's defence instantly looks full of holes! ”

'It's 1-2 and Chelsea are still behind.'

"Let's take a look at this slow-motion replay, Lukaku and Hazard have a very tacit understanding, the two in the front of the penalty area to tear apart the defense of Crystal Palace, Hazard after the handling is also quite calm."

'It's a combination that's been common in previous games at Chelsea. It's just that today it was Lukaku who passed the ball and it was Hazard who made the final blow ......"

"Pan Yi's fighting style has paid off! It felt like at that moment, the Crystal Palace players were a little stunned! ”

"Haha, what I just said is right, Pan Yi always has strange tricks, and they always have an effect! So, let's see what game the two managers have in less than 20 minutes left! ”

——

"Boss, our substitution...... Shall we still change it? ”

On the home side's bench, the assistant coach is walking up to manager Neil Warnock with centre-back Hangrande.

The substitution was made by the head coach before Chelsea scored, but just as the Norwegian defender was almost out of his warm-up, Chelsea did so.

So the assistant coach was a little confused about whether the head coach would change his mind.

"Change, why don't you change?! TMD for me! Warnock was furious.

Chelsea's substitution and goal really raised his blood pressure.

Two goals ahead is of course completely different from the mood of one goal ahead.

How comfortable I was just now, how nervous I am now.

After all, on the football field, the advantage of leading by one goal is really not an advantage, and it is a matter of a moment to be equalized!

But he can only replace Hangrand now.

Eden Hazard played beautifully for the goal just now, but the biggest contributor was Romelu Lukaku.

It was because he dropped back to get the ball this time that this goal was created.

And it was in this retreat that Crystal Palace's central defender Delaney, who was supposed to target Lukaku, failed to follow up in time, allowing Lukaku to be so comfortable with the ball and passing.

So Warnock still decided to let Hangrand go up, and the focus is still on preventing Lukaku!

Since this Draney is not doing well, let him come down and rest.

And Hangrande is also stronger than Delany and may really be able to contain Lukaku's play better.

Of course, Warnock yelled at the assistant coach, but it was just a vent, not really any opinion on the assistant coach.

After all, a cooked duck feels a little bit of a take-off! He was angry and afraid.

And the assistant coach can only silently go to the fourth official.

Of course, he didn't dare to say anything, for fear of accidentally provoking the angry head coach.

——

But Warnock seems to have forgotten a little.

Lukaku is not just tall now, it's fast!

The legendary striker who combines "one high and one fast"!

In fact, such a striker is theoretically the most terrifying.

Like Haaland in the future.

No, to be precise, they are tall, fast and strong!

When they're in good shape, you really don't know how to defend because there are so few weaknesses!

In reality, this type of striker may not play well due to various factors, but in the game, they are the best.

Let's just say that Lukaku is very invincible in several generations of FM games.

has height, super strong, fast speed, plus technical attributes and mental attributes are not much worse, it is quacky and killing on the field.

And Lukaku, who was on the pitch today, is actually close to this state.

Under Pan Yi's careful teaching, he is gradually getting rid of his original bad habits and moving towards the goal of becoming a true all-round striker.

Retreat can be a fulcrum with his back, and he can explode into an arch bull, such a Lukaku, how can you not love it?

But for the Crystal Palace defenders, it was very uncomfortable.

After the substitution, because Chelsea now have two central strikers on the field, Romelu Lukaku and Bamford, they are not slow and have good mobility, which makes it difficult for Crystal Palace to defend.

Under their active running, there can even be an illusion that it is Chelsea who are now playing 11 to 10 on the field!

In the 79th minute, such an "illusion" seemed to become a reality.

Lukaku retreated again, only for the opposing Norwegian centre-back Hangrid to follow and cling to him.

However, Lukaku first fended his opponent with his body and then unloaded a long ball from Kurt Zouma at the back.

Hangrande tried to reach for the ball but Lukaku immediately redirected it to Nemanja Matic, who was in front of him.

At the same time, Lukaku immediately turned around Hangrande and rushed towards the Crystal Palace penalty area!

This is a very clear anti-offside tactic!

And whether this tactic can succeed or not depends largely on the tacit understanding of the pass.

It is clear that Nemanja Matic understands Lukaku's intentions.

He didn't hesitate at all, he just didn't stop the ball and stuffed it straight forward!

The ball crossed the grass in a straight line and then appeared between the small and big penalty areas, almost near the penalty spot.

At this time, Lukaku, who was running at full speed, also rushed to the ball, and did not stop the ball at all, but pushed it directly.

Crystal Palace goalkeeper Speroni thought Lukaku would dribble over him like Eden Hazard, so he didn't make any moves to get off the ground beforehand.

So in the eyes of everyone in the stadium, Speroni felt like he was frozen at this moment, just watching Lukaku hit the ball into the door behind him.

"The ball went in again!!!"

“GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL！！！！！！”

'It's Romelu Lukaku this time! He was offside and then pushed the ball in! ”

"He made a pass and a shot in less than ten minutes after coming on as a substitute!"

'His excellent performance also helped Chelsea equalise!'

"It's incredible! Ten minutes ago, who would have thought that Chelsea, who looked like they were already in a desperate situation, would have such a strong fight? ”

"And all of this is due to that magical substitution of Chelsea manager Pan Yi!"

"Really, I can't find any words to describe it except magic! It's just amazing! ”

"Now that the game is about ten minutes over, what is Pan Yi thinking now?"

'It's an acceptable result to play away from home with one less player and a point for a draw. Will he recycle the formation a little bit and make this crazy attacking formation a little more secure? ”

"Or does he want to be a little crazier......"

——

On the home team's coach's side, Neil Warnock's face was very ugly.

Standing on the sidelines, he wanted to scold, but he had to hold back the anger in his heart.

He also heard loud boos from the fans in the stands.

Although he thought it was supposed to be booing the players celebrating the away team, he didn't know why, but he always felt that the fans were also booing the home team.

Leading by two goals, playing one more, and now it is levelled in ten minutes.

What exactly happened during this time!

In that moment, Warnock felt a little helpless.

At the same time, he also felt the gap between himself and Pan Yi deep down in his heart.

Pan Yi's substitution and change of formation were so bold, and he was only shocked and puzzled after seeing it, but he couldn't give an effective response in a short time.

No, he did deal with it, and that was to make a center-back substitution, bringing on Hangrande for Delany Draney.

But as it turned out, it didn't work for eggs.

In other words, compared with Pan Yi's substitution of gods, his substitution has no effect, and may be counterproductive.

Because Delany is faster than Hangrande! But he was replaced.

In this defense, Hangrande basically played the role of a stake in the whole process of being successfully countered by Lukaku.

Probably using the advantages of his model, Lukaku went around a little, and then he didn't have any way to stop Lukaku at all.

Chase back? Inexistent.

The huge disadvantage in speed makes it difficult for Hangrande to face some ordinary speed forwards, let alone a 200-pound charge tank like Lukaku.

"It can't go on like this." His teaching assistant cautioned, "Actually...... Not a single point is unacceptable. ”

Warnock understood what the assistant meant.

After the substitutions, Chelsea's attack went on higher and higher, and the Crystal Palace goal was like a broken ship, threatening to sink completely at any moment.

It can also be said that even if Crystal Palace has one more person, it is a bit whimsical to turn the tide on the pitch and try to score another goal to win or something.

The morale of the players on both sides is also completely different!

One by one, the Chelsea players ran wild on the pitch as if they had been doping, not at all like they had played more than 80 minutes.

The Crystal Palace players, on the other hand, looked tired and dazed, barely knowing what to do.

Coupled with the fact that Crystal Palace's players have a lot of physical exertion, let alone counterattacks, it is a bit difficult to keep up with the rhythm of Chelsea.

"Forget it, what you said makes sense." Warnock made up his mind, "Let's hold on for ten minutes." ”

At this time, he has long lost the ambition before the start of the game, and he is not complacent ten minutes ago.

But he didn't want the assistant to see anything, so he could only "reluctantly" accept the assistant's opinion.

How to say it, although 11 to 10 is like this, it is indeed a bit embarrassing......

But even if we don't win, even if it's a draw, it will end Chelsea's winning streak!

Although it's not as cool as winning, after all, this is also something that strong teams like Manchester City and Arsenal have not been able to do, and Warnock and his Crystal Palace are also very face-saving!

Thinking of this, Warnock stood up.

He began to prepare for the final arrangement, making substitutions and adjusting tactics.

Eleven people are trying their best to defend against you and ten people, it's impossible not to be able to prevent it, right?

Thinking about it, Warnock couldn't help but glance at Pan Yi and said:

"NND, how does he train as a player? How come ten people have been kicking until now, and they still have the physical strength to launch such a strong attack? ”

(End of chapter)