It is worth mentioning that in addition to the best young player, there are also many Blue Fox and neutral fans who believe that Ling Feng is the favorite for the best player.

Because, compared to other candidates, Leicester City, where Ling Feng plays, is only a promoted horse who has just been promoted from the Championship this season.

Under the premise that the strength of the players and the overall lineup are relatively inferior, Ling Feng can still contribute such explosive personal data and lead Leicester City to the top six in the league standings.

It must be much more difficult than several other candidates in a big club!

Considering these factors, Ling Feng was not picky in terms of both his personal performance and the team's record.

He deserves to be voted Player of the Season!

Regarding the disturbances from the outside world, Ling Feng, who was preparing for the battle at the Belvo base, had no time to pay attention.

Because on the day the shortlist was announced, the King Power Stadium ushered in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals.

Leicester City, the big dark horse of the English Premier League, is facing Napoli at home with the strongest offensive firepower in Serie A!

"Welcome to the King Power Stadium in Leicester, the live quarter-final of this season's Europa League against Leicester City and Napoli!"

"This season, Leicester City has repeatedly defeated strong opponents not only in the Premier League, but also in the Europa League, successively eliminating the Eredivisie hegemon Ajax and the Bundesliga Wolfsburg, and reaching the quarterfinals."

"It's worth mentioning that Leicester City have an astounding record at home this season and are still unbeaten!"

"As the strongest attacking team in Serie A, whether Napoli can break the unbeaten golden body of the Blue Foxes is also one of the highlights of this game."

"Let's take a look at the starting line-ups for both sides."

"For Napoli, the goalkeeper is still Andujar."

On the back line, from right to left, are Maggio, Albiol, Britos, and Gulam;

Lopes and Inle form a two-man midfield partnership;

The front midfielder is the "Dalian Celebrity" Hamsik, Mertens is on the left, Callejon is on the right, and the "little smoking gun" Higuain is in the front.

In addition to the starting eleven, there were also stars such as Jorginho, Insigne, Koulibaly and Gabbiadini sitting on the bench.

Napoli's lineup, in addition to the fame and strength of the back line is slightly inferior, the midfield attacking staff can be called the top in Serie A!

Especially the front four, all of them are famous stars!

Mertens, Belgium's main international.

Callejon, a former Real Madrid bench bandit;

Hamsik, captain of Slovakia;

Higuain, Napoli and Argentina's leading scorer!

This season, under the leadership of "Tactician" Benitez, their attacking firepower ranks first in Serie A.

Especially in the Europa League, Napoli scored 19 goals in 10 games, which is also the second highest in the Europa League.

And the number one is none other than Leicester City, which has scored 20 goals!

Speaking of which, Leicester City and Napoli have similarities in lineup and tactics.

They all use the 4231 tactical formation, and they all have players with outstanding offensive talent in the frontcourt, all of whom are strong in attack and weak in defense.

The performance of the two teams in the league is also very similar.

You can beat strong opponents in strong conversations, and you can also concede goals and points against some mid-table teams.

As the saying goes, offense wins the game, defense wins the championship.

In the long league, there will always be a dumb fire or poor state in the attack, and only by doing a good job of defense can you get points steadily.

Serie A has completed 30 rounds, and Napoli is in fourth place, a dozen points away from Juventus at the top of the table.

There is no hope of winning the title, but the Champions League is only one step away.

In the Europa League, which is a knockout system, it has reached the quarterfinals.

And it's the favourite.

You only need to take out three more opponents to win the championship!

You know, since 1988, when they won the UEFA Cup for the first time under the leadership of Maradona, they have not reached the final of a European competition for more than 20 years!

In addition, the current coach of Napoli, Rafael Benitez, is a well-known cup expert.

Therefore, the Napoli hierarchy is also unwilling to give up any hope of winning the championship, but intends to grasp both the league and cup competitions.

It's the little ones who make the choice.

Adults, all of them!

。。。

Compared with Napoli's main force, Leicester City has been hit by injuries.

Morgan, Drinkwater and Riyad Mahrez were unavailable, leaving Pearson to choose a suitable replacement:

In the goalkeeper position, Schmeichel Jr.

At the back, it was Simpson, Hut, Harry Maguire and Schlupp.

The two midfielders are Cambiasso and Andy King.

There are three attacking midfielders, with Ling Feng in the middle, and Albrighton and Jesse Lingard on the left and right.

The single arrow is Vardy, the team's top scorer who scored seven goals and ranked third in the Europa League scorers' list!

In the players' tunnel, Ling Feng also saw the Napoli generals wearing away white jerseys.

Among them, the biggest name in the Napoli team is naturally Higuain, who transferred from Real Madrid last summer.

It is worth mentioning that with Higuain, who came to Napoli from Real Madrid, there was Callejon.

Although the two are not the main force in Real Madrid, they are the absolute main force in Naples.

After the two came to Serie A, they were like fish in water and quickly carried the banner of Napoli's front-court attack.

In less than two seasons, Higuain and Callejon have combined to score a terrifying sixty goals!

The combination of the two has beaten Juventus' Carlos Tevez and Llorente (47 goals), and Roma's Destro and Gervinho (33 goals), becoming the most lethal combination in Serie A!

In response to that sentence, Real Madrid's production must be a high-quality product!

After taking a look at Napoli's starters, Ling Feng just retracted his gaze, but found that Maguire, who was standing in front, was still holding his neck and staring at Higuain.

Obviously, the heavy responsibility of keeping an eye on Higuain in this game is on the shoulders of the young aircraft carrier!

Just as Maguire was pondering how to defend Higuain later, he suddenly felt a tap on the shoulder.

When he turned around, he saw Ling Feng looking at him with a smile on his face:

"Hey! Big guys, relax"

Hearing this, Maguire was stunned for a moment, and then nodded.

"Just follow the training, no matter how good he is, can he be as good as me?"

Ling Feng originally wanted to make a joke and relieve Maguire's nervousness.

However, Ma Datou really thought about this question for a while, and then replied with a serious face:

"Indeed, you are more powerful!"

This answer made Ling Feng also stunned, and then immediately continued the conversation and continued:

"That's fine! You practice one-on-one with me every day, and it's a good defense. Today's game is the time for you to show the effect of extra practice! ”

"Hmmm! I'll do my best! ”

Before the game, many media and football experts thought that this was definitely a wonderful offensive battle!

And after the opening, the two sides did not have the slightest temptation, and directly entered the state.

Napoli, in particular, was mainly directly opposed, and first set off a wave of white attacks at the King Power Stadium!

In the seventh minute of the game, Napoli, who was forced by a high position, made a long pass directly to the right side.

Callejon faced Schlupp's defense, stopped lightly, and stopped the ball firmly at his feet.

Then immediately the ball was knocked across to Hamsik, who was receiving in the middle.

Don't look at Hamsik with a moxican head on his head and a fierce and uninhibited face, and think that he is a midfield butcher similar to Frenkie de Jong, who kicked Alonso at the World Cup.

On the contrary, he has excellent technique at his feet, wide vision, a hand for passing and long-range shots, and is a playmaking attacking midfielder who is unrelenting.

He looked up and watched before Cambiaso stepped forward to press for a long diagonal pass that hit the ball behind Foxes right-back Simpson in the air.

Mertens, who was inserted at high speed, showed a solid stopping skills, stopped the ball in front of him, looked up at his teammates in the middle, and directly crossed the ball with his left foot.

The ball rolled to the line of the big penalty area, and Higuain directly continued to volley!

Fortunately, Maguire followed more closely and blocked the shot directly with his body to block the shot from the bottom line.

If it is not blocked, according to the trajectory of the ball flying out, it will definitely hit within the range of the goal.

After completing this successful wave of defense, central defender partner Hutter and goalkeeper Schmeichel Jr. all stepped forward to high-five Maguire as a sign of encouragement.

This wave of offensive coordination is very smooth, and it also fully demonstrates the tacit understanding and ability of the Napoli front four.

The two wingers, Mertens and Callejon, are both very fast wingers.

Moreover, both men have good skills at their feet, and after being able to tear apart the defence, they can send passes to Higuain in the middle.

And the nickname Higuain, ghostly running and excellent nose in front of goal are the foundation of his foothold in Europe.

Like Jamie Vardy, he is a mobile striker.

He tends to run to the best of his game, then receive passes from his teammates and take dangerous shots.

Like any player, though, Higuain is not without his weaknesses.

His back and dribbling ability are not stellar.

Many of his goals are in response to the passes of his teammates and the first time he chooses to shoot.

Therefore, in order to limit the Napoli striker, Pearson arranged for Vardy to train the two central defenders in the pre-match preparation stage.

Sticking to him and not letting him turn around and shoot easily is the only way to limit him.

However, this is easier said than done.

In particular, Leicester City's two central defenders are relatively bulky and tall central defenders.

Compared with Huter, the maneuverability of the "young aircraft carrier" Maguire is not bad.

At the beginning, with full physical fitness, he will definitely be able to keep up with Higuain's interspersing and running.

However, with the decline of physical fitness and high concentration, fatigue or distraction will inevitably occur.

At that point, it may only be a split second, and the defense will collapse with a bang!

In football, even if you can defend well for 89 minutes and 50 seconds, you don't let the opponent score.

But at that moment, if you don't follow the defense so tightly, if you don't take a step forward and block the angle of the shot, you may be seized by the opponent and send the ball into the goal.

And defense, that's how unflattering, but extremely important!

Knowing the shortcomings of the team's unstable defense, Pearson's solution is to replace defense with offense!

。。。

In the face of Napoli's knock on the mountain, Leicester City is not to be outdone.

In the fifteenth minute of the game, Leicester City launched an attack in the middle!

After receiving Maguire's shot, Cambiaso did not hesitate to hand the ball to Ling Feng, who retreated.

The latter, in the case of his back, used a fake shake and the outside instep to lead the ball and turn, passing the Swiss international Inle, who was closely marking him.

"Pretty!"

However, before he could advance a few meters with the ball, another defender, David López, came straight from the side and gave him a blow with his shoulder.

However, this collision only made Ling Feng's body stumble, and he quickly regained his balance, and then passed the ball to Albrighton on the left.

Albrighton hit the right foot directly into the box and sent a cross straight into the box.

Vardy leaped to his feet, flicked his head and headed the ball towards the right side of the goal.

Fortunately, this header, coupled with the speed of the Napoli goalkeeper's reaction, made a flying sideways save and held the ball firmly.

"Beautiful header!"

"Leicester City also immediately hit back!"

"You know, this is King Power Stadium!"

Soon, both the fans at the scene and the audience in front of the TV could see that the situation on the field was very open.

Moreover, they also found that both teams were very quick in attack.

It is often just a few passes that hit the opponent's attacking third zone.

In the absence of a high striker, Napoli chose to abandon the middle and focus on the wings.

Use the speed and penetration of both flanks to create inside cuts and crosses, then make the most of Higuain's ghostly movement up front, either to shoot from the spotlight or to cross with team-mates to create space.

Moreover, Hamsik's ability to impact the second point behind the forward line is also the top in Serie A.

Whenever he couldn't get off the ball, Higuain would knock the ball back for Hamsik, who was on the back of the game.

And this kind of attacking routine is also very similar to Leicester City.

The difference is that Ling Feng is even stronger.

He has a single-point blasting ability that Hamsik doesn't have, and he can also shoot from distance on his own.

As the game progresses, the pace gets faster and faster.

Slowly, the "Master Be" Benitez on the sidelines still saw the weakness of Leicester City's defense in the middle, so he took the opportunity of the dead ball to explain to the fullback Gulam:

"Hit the middle lane more!"

"Let the two of them run more in the back!"

Soon, after Napoli increased their impact on the two midfielders, Leicester's lack of layers in the middle of the defense was exposed.

Napoli's front line is largely reliant on Hamsik.

And his strengths are ball protection and getting rid of it, accurate long passes, full of energy, strong running ability, and belongs to a very modern all-round midfielder.

But the speed is not too fast, and the breakthrough ability is average, and he can't tear through his own personal dribbling and tear through the defense line.

It stands to reason that as long as he presses closely, he can't share the ball so easily.

However, Andy King, who was assigned by Pearson to guard him, could not put too much pressure on Hamsik, whether it was a physical confrontation or a defensive position.

Add to that a conscious but physically unable Cambiasso, and Leicester's defensive coverage in front of the backline has become much smaller.

Looking at the situation where his team was suppressed, Pearson also missed the "drinking brother" who watched the game from the stands very much

However, the problem of the team's defense in the middle is not a day or two.

It's just this game that made him more determined to have a thought in his heart:

"This summer, it's really time to look for a new midfielder"

(End of chapter)