The boss stands for the team and manager Scaloni certainly doesn't blame the players.

In an interview with reporters, he said that the players had done their best, that the loss was a problem with the coaching staff, and with a little bit of luck, Lady Luck was not on York's side!

Next up is an away game against Norwich, which is another hard-fought game.

Norwich City has been in the limelight in the form of a "lift" in recent years, often playing one season in the Premier League and another season in the Championship.

While this shows that they are not strong enough to establish themselves in the Premier League, it also proves that they are still very competitive in the Championship.

In this game, Norwich really caused some trouble for York City, and the state of the York City players seems to have been affected by the defeat in the previous round and seems to be a bit sluggish.

Although York City still dominated the game, they were eventually forced to a 0-0 draw by a tenacious Norwich City.

After the game, the news of Wolves' victory came, and they were two more points up!

As a result, the gap between York City and Wolves is only 5 points, although it looks okay, but after all, it is only a two-game difference, and according to the recent form, the top position is in jeopardy.

Moreover, in the next round of the game, there will be the battle of Tianwang Mountain in the Championship, York City against Wolves!

It also makes many people feel that Yorktown is a bit hanging.

Although it will not affect the promotion situation - after all, Cardiff City, who are now in third place, are still 8 points away from Wolves, but the Championship champion is also the champion!

And some people believe that if York City loses to Wolves again and morale keeps declining, it is not impossible for a collapse to happen, and there is also a probability that it will affect the upgrade in the end.

But when interviewed by the media, whether it is the players or the manager, including the club's officials, everyone is unified.

They all think that the current predicament of the team, although difficult, can be overcome!

The unity of the top and bottom, and the fact that everyone is twisted into a rope, has surprised many people who are ready to see the conflict in the wake of Yorktown's troubles.

Because they didn't see the York City players complaining in the media, and even on the contrary, everyone was adamant that the team's situation would definitely improve.

——

Heading into January, York City ushered in their third game in six days, hosting Wolves!

This is clearly a battle of focus.

First of all, it is a battle for the top of the Championship, and secondly, it is also a revenge battle for York City.

York City have lost just two games this season, the first of which was an away defeat to Wolves.

And the players of both teams can be called star level in the Championship.

Needless to say, York City has all kinds of internationals, including strong teams like Italy, the Netherlands, England, etc.

Wolves also have a number of internationals, the most of which are Portugal, Diogo Jota, Neves are among the best, and there are also Ireland internationals like Doherty.

In addition, both teams are from Chinese-funded backgrounds, and the owners of both teams are from the Dragon Country, so they are also called the "Dragon Country Derby" by the media.

Of course, with the two teams competing for the Championship title, the two sides are still tense, more like a real derby.

Wolves even released harsh words before the game, to let York City see their strength, especially in the current difficult situation of York City, they shouted to let York City fall from the leader position and replace it.

Not to be outdone, Scaloni fielded the best starting line-up for this game, with Baker, Leao, Kulusevski and other frontcourt players all on the field to attack the Wolves defence.

After a break from the last game in a row, Leao was relatively fit in the game, and he was also active in front of several Portuguese national team teammates, frequently creating threats on the left flank, and cutting inside a few times.

It's just that Baker in the middle still seems to be a little out of shape, and he didn't take advantage of several good opportunities.

The two sides played 0:0 in the first half, and at the beginning of the second half, Wolves calculated the poor fitness of the York City players, changed the passive defense in the first half, and played offensive tactics, hoping to take the lead in scoring the goal of York City.

At this time, the double midfielder of Declan Rice and Tonali played a good role in protecting the defence, forming a steely defensive line at the edge of the penalty area, and hardly giving Wolves any chance to enter the box.

As Wolves attacked, the attacking space of several players up front also expanded, and the performance of the players gradually improved.

Especially when Scamacca replaced the underperforming Baker, the players up front were in full form.

In the 72nd minute, Leao made a beautiful pass on the left, cut diagonally into the penalty area, and knocked it to Scamacca in the middle, who cleverly missed it, and Tonali, who was inserted in the back row, pushed it into the near corner, but the goalkeeper couldn't save it.

1：0！

After the goal, York City's attack began to gradually get smoother and smoother.

Leao, in particular, was on the left flank, almost beating Wolves' right-back Bennett into a sieve, and five minutes later he assisted Scamacca again to score, 2-0!

Leao then scored himself in the 87th minute when he received a through ball from Tonali in the middle, and after successfully countering offside, he crossed the goalkeeper and fired into the empty net.

3：0！

In less than 20 minutes, York City played the most hearty attack in recent games, especially Leao on the left, showing very good skills and strength.

The 18-year-old Portuguese has been in fine form for York City this season and has gradually taken over as a regular on the left wing.

This is actually inseparable from Pan Yi's care.

In his previous life, Rafael Leao gradually became an important player in the team after coming to AC Milan, and he could play all positions in the front field, whether it was on the left and right wings or in the middle, he was at ease.

Of course, his biggest characteristics are good physical fitness, strong confrontation, fast speed, explosiveness, good bouncing headers, good sense of position and first-class ability to read the game.

But he wasn't like this at the beginning, his technique and speed were really good, but his body was still a little thin, and his confrontation ability was average, and he even didn't like to fight against others, and sometimes he couldn't concentrate on the field, including his shots.

So this time Leao came to York City, and Pan Yi quickly prescribed the right medicine and asked the coaching staff to give him a special training plan.

For example, Leao received a set of shooting and scoring training under the arrangement of the coaching staff, and also developed a physical training plan to promote the improvement of his physical fitness.

And Pan Yi sometimes comes to coach Leao in person, encouraging him to be braver and more focused on the court, instead of suddenly breaking the line.

It is precisely because of such careful adjustment that Leao has improved significantly in the past half season, and his performance in the team has also attracted the attention of many teams.

However, Pan Yi's answer to this is the same, he just keeps reiterating that the winter transfer window for York City has closed!

——

After winning Wolves, the gap between York City and the opposition has widened to eight points, which has also greatly eased the pressure within the team.

Although Pan Yi's goal in the Championship is only to upgrade, who doesn't want to win the title?

And beating the biggest rival on the way to the championship and getting revenge is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for York City's young players.

In their next game against Queens Park Rangers, York City came together to thrash their opponents 3-0 to cement their lead at the top of the table.

Next, the FA Cup game begins.

The Championship side joined the FA Cup in the third round, while York City's opponent was Dagenham from the fifth tier of the National League.

In this game, Scaloni arranged the team's substitutes to play in order to allow the main players to rest.

In this game, Dagenham sat at home to face his old rival, and this scene also made many Dagenham fans feel embarrassed.

Just two or three years ago, York City and Dagenham were brothers and sisters in League Two, with both sides fighting for relegation in League Two.

But time has passed, Dagenham have been relegated to the national league, but York City is already a strong team in the Championship and even looks set to win the Championship and enter the Premier League......

As for why such a gap has formed, perhaps it can be explained by just one name: Pan Yi.

Many Dagenham fans can't help but wonder if Pan Yi chose his own team at the beginning, would it be himself who is competing for the Championship title today?

But fantasy is fantasy, reality is like this, and we still have to work hard in today's game.

Dagenham also took this game very seriously, although it was a home game, but they were very self-aware, after all, York City today is completely different from the old opponents of the past!

This is a team that can kill all sides in the Europa League.

So, Dagenham put up defensive tactics at home and fought back.

And Yorktown's side is obviously prepared.

Fighting such a weak team, isn't it necessary to prepare for a tough battle?

Today, the four midfielders composed of Lin Liangming, Karlström, Barella and Armand are facing the opponent's iron bucket formation, although there are not many ways, but in the end, the overall strength of the team is more than one cut higher than the opponent.

In particular, the individual ability of the players on the field is outstanding, and the trident has turned Dagenham's backline upside down.

Only in the first half, York City had already taken a three-goal lead, and after the second half, York City's offensive continued unabated.

This is also the style of the York City game, 90 minutes of play, the players will fight from the beginning to the end, even if it is a big lead, they will not relax, like a pack of eternally hungry wolves!

In the end, York City scored three more goals and finally beat Dagenham 6-0 to reach the fourth round of the FA Cup.

However, in the fourth round of fixtures two weeks later, York City faced stubborn resistance from League One side Rochdale, who played 1-1 after 90 minutes and had to play a replay.

Fortunately, in the replay, York City adjusted their form and finally relied on De Jong's stunning goal to defeat their opponents 1-0 and enter the fifth round.

During this period, York City also played four rounds of the Championship, namely a 1-1 draw with Preston North End, a 1-0 win over Derby County, a 2-0 win over Reading, and especially a 4-3 win over Leeds United in the Yorkshire derby, once again consolidating their position as the leader of Yorkshire with a goal shootout.

After 30 rounds, York City's record is 25 wins, 3 draws, 2 losses and 78 points, while Wolves have 21 wins, 5 draws and 4 losses and 68 points, and the gap between the two sides is a full 10 points.

Derby County and Cardiff City are now third and fourth with 57 points, while Aston Villa are fifth with 56.

That said, York City are 21 points above third place and are almost certain for a promotion spot this season.

Such a good situation can also allow York City to focus more on the cup, especially the Europa League.

Scaloni takes the first leg of the Europa League round of 32 very seriously, and this is a two-legged knockout round, so he can't be careless.

In the away game, the opponent was very strong, Scaloni decisively let the team play a defensive counterattack, using his own solid defense to contain the attack of the Villarreal team, and then tear the opponent's defense through efficient counterattacks.

Perhaps accustomed to playing in the Spanish league, Villarreal's defence left too much space for York City.

Especially when their wide attacks were contained, they clearly lacked more effective means to tear down York City's defence, but instead gave their opponents a chance to counter-attack.

With Rice, Tonali and Frenkie de Jong under the watchful eye of the team, Barca, who had performed well in the Spanish league, was completely silent and could not find the right time to shoot, as did Cheryshev and Vernals.

However, York City took advantage of a mistake by Villarreal in the second half to tear through their defence from the right, with Kulusevski digging into the box and Baker slotting home from a diagonal cross.

0：1！

None of the fans at the scene expected that with Villarreal dominating the game, York City would be the first to break the deadlock.

And in fact, even Villarreal themselves panicked, and they fought back frantically, storming the York City defence again and again.

However, this backline composed of Alphonso Davies, Bastoni, De Ligt and Militão is impregnable, coupled with the goalkeeper Onana behind him, so no matter how strong Villarreal's attack is, once they enter the front area of the York City penalty area, they will completely lose their effective method.

It was also a big problem for all the teams facing York City, who simply couldn't tear down the York City defence, especially after leading by one goal away and Villarreal's attack was completely extinguished when Scaloni allowed his side to pull back into their own half.

The final 30 minutes were a scuffle, with Villarreal dominating but never able to break the deadlock.

York City looked a bit passive, but with their steely tenacity, they managed to keep the score 0-1 to the end, bringing home a very valuable away win from Spain, as well as a valuable away goal.

In this way, after York City returned to home, they were in a good position.

When they came back from the back and beat Villarreal 2-0 at home to reach the last 16 of the Europa League with an aggregate score of 3-0, the whole of Europe was surprised by the dark horse.

In this game, York City controlled the tempo of the game from start to finish, with De Jong playing the role of commander in the middle of the midfield, showing flawlessness in both attack and defence, and his two assists helped his team-mates score.

Many media outlets mentioned before the game that Villarreal should use their attack to mobilize York City's defence, using their delicate skills and excellent individual ability to overcome their opponents.

But in reality?

In the game, York City's attack was sharper and more frequent than Villarreal's!

When it comes to technique, York City have the absolute advantage in terms of one-on-one individual success rate, with four or five attacking players up front almost turning Villarreal's defence upside down.

For Villarreal, it's a complete defeat, a complete defeat!

This also shows that York City's defensive posture away from home a week ago was not due to lack of strength, but to stabilize the basic market first, and then go full fire after returning to the home stadium!

With this victory, some critics who were still a little skeptical about York City's inclusion in the Europa League round of 32 or a bit of luck could shut up, and they had to admit that York City proved themselves with two impeccable victories.

The English media even sang the praises of Yorktown's victory.

They believe that a team in the second tier of England has played England's momentum in the Europa League!

The other English side currently in the Europa League are Arsenal, who face Sweden's underdogs Ostersuns in the round of 32, but with both legs winning one each, Arsenal struggled to progress.

As a Premier League team, as a BIG6, the comparison between Arsenal's performance and York City's performance makes people feel that York City's victory is even more rare.

After all, York City's opponents are not unknown, and the "Yellow Submarine" is the top six in La Liga, which is not comparable to any Swedish mid-table team.

And in the next round of 16 draw, York City will also have good luck.

They were drawn by Plzen Victory from the Czech Republic.

The Czech team defeated Serbia's Partizan Belgrade in the round of 32 to reach the round of 16, but in fact, their own strength is average, and there are no stars in the team that can be named.

Compared with other teams in the round of 16, such as AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, Athletic Bilbao, Ajax and other teams, York City's opponents drawn this time can be said to be signed!

——

It's already February, and York City is finally out of a busy winter break with a relatively relaxed schedule.

York City's fixture schedule is not as tight as it used to be, and they can approach the league and FA Cup with a more relaxed mentality.

York City's opponents in the fifth round of the FA Cup are Hull City, also from the Championship, who are in the bottom of the Championship this season and are in danger of even relegation.

So their current goal is to do their best to stay in the relegation and not to take the FA Cup very seriously.

In addition, there was a 0:5 defeat to York City in the league, which made Hull City even less confident, so the head coach simply sent a lot of substitutes to play York City.

Scaloni also used a lot of substitutes, but how are their substitutes on the same level as Hull City's substitutions?

You must know that York City was able to successfully survive the busy winter break, but it relied on two or three sets of strong squads, and the substitute players basically had the strength to play the main force in other teams!

So, in another 4:0, York City beat Hull City again and successfully broke into the FA Cup quarterfinals!

(End of chapter)