Chapter 175: Iron Will!
Chapter 175: Iron Will!
"Did I see it wrong? Did Lin Huang embarrass the opposing defender?"
"Haha! I saw it too. Fulham's 1.80-meter left-back came at Lin Huang with full force, wanting to take him down, but ended up humiliating himself!"
"666! I didn't expect Lin Huang to be so strong in close combat!"
"Let me explain, although Lin Huang is only 173 centimeters tall, he weighs 73 kilograms. While Fulham's left-back Richardson is 180 centimeters tall but only weighs 70 kilograms. The opposing team thought Lin Huang was an easy target, but it turns out they hit a steel wall!"
"My God, is Lin Huang really that robust? You can't tell at all!"
"This is what it means not to judge by appearances!"
...
"Lin, you did great!"
David Silva saw Lin Huang beat the opponent in a direct confrontation and score a goal, so he excitedly ran over to give him a pat and celebrate:
"In the Premier League, these guys don't respect weakness. The weaker you seem, the more they bully you. If you show a strong performance and punish them severely, they won't dare to be so insolent."
This is David Silva's experienced advice, which is very valuable for Lin Huang's upcoming journey in the Premier League.
"Yes, thanks, David."
After hearing this, Lin Huang seemed to ponder and then looked at Richardson, who had just been helped up by his teammates.
Is David encouraging me to keep teaching this guy a lesson?
"What happened? How did you lose to that kid?"
Talabt lifted his fallen teammate off the ground and asked in confusion.
"It's nothing, I just slipped. Next time, I'll show him who's boss."
Richardson didn't want to admit he lost to the opponent in close combat, so he tried to justify it with an excuse.
"Well, that's fine. Next time, I'll help you face him."
Talabt patted Richardson on the shoulder and returned to his defensive position.
Just at that moment, Lin Huang looked towards Richardson, and the latter felt Lin Huang's hostile gaze, which suddenly made him feel uncomfortable, with an unpleasant sensation.
The match continued, and under Lin Huang's organization, Manchester City's attack became more fluid.
Fulham players, although technically inferior to Manchester City's players, were experts in using their physical advantage.
As a result, repeated scenes of Manchester City players being taken down by Fulham occurred.
These actions would be considered fouls in other leagues, but in the Premier League, where refereeing is more lenient, many of these fouls were not whistled, and there even seemed to be a slight inclination to encourage players to engage in physical play.
The lax refereeing encouraged Fulham players to become bolder.
Under the constant physical pressure and fouls from Fulham, Manchester City's attack began to falter a bit.
And among those most affected was Lin Huang.
As the core of Manchester City's attack, he had the ball most of the time.
But thanks to his excellent dribbling skills, it was much harder for Fulham players to take the ball from him than from other Manchester City players.
So, whenever Fulham players couldn't intercept him, they resorted to fouls to prevent him from completing his dribbles and passes.
In less than thirty minutes of play in the first half, Lin Huang was taken down at least ten times by the opposing team.
Among them, Fulham's left-back Richardson was the one who took him down the most.
After learning the lesson from his previous defeat, he realized that the opponent's physical ability was not inferior to his own.
If he only tried to face him fairly, not only would he be unable to stop him, but he would also be overtaken by him.
So he started using foul tactics to deal with Lin Huang.
In the Premier League, where refereeing is more lenient, many fouls are not whistled.
And even if they are, there aren't many consequences, as long as he doesn't receive a card.
After taking down Lin Huang once again, when the referee only whistled the foul and gave a verbal warning without any real consequences, Richardson mocked Lin Huang with an air of superiority:
"Kid, welcome to the Premier League. This is how we treat you here!"
Fulham fans in the stands burst into laughter seeing their player continuously take down Manchester City's star player.
But every time Lin Huang was taken down, he quickly got up without showing any signs of pain or wasting time on the ground.
And once on his feet, he returned to the game as if nothing had happened, gradually baffling Fulham fans.
Although they were players from the opposing team, they couldn't help but admire Lin Huang's toughness.
"Why doesn't this kid fall easily?"
"It's incredible! Is he made of steel?"
"I thought this guy, with his excellent dribbling skills, would be like those delicate players who only protest to the referee when they're taken down and roll on the ground. But it turns out this guy doesn't even complain!"
"His playing style is like Keane's or even Cantona's in their days, but not as challenging as Cantona!"
On the other hand, Lin Huang, seeing that Fulham's attempts to intimidate him with fouls weren't working, started to closely observe how the referee handled the fouls.
After confirming that the referee was lenient in his decisions, he began to respond more aggressively.
At the 38th minute, after Fulham attempted a counterattack, Richardson tried to advance with the ball, but Lin Huang took him down with a slide tackle.
Richardson writhed on the ground, clutching his leg and screaming in pain.
Fulham fans were enraged by the foul and began to boo:
"Red card!"
"Send him off!"
"That damned Spanish kid is despicable!"
The referee, who was nearby, clearly saw the situation. Lin Huang touched the ball first before taking down Richardson, so he considered it a clean tackle.
In other leagues, it would have been sanctioned as a foul at most, but in the Premier League, where refereeing was more flexible, it would have been unfair to change the standard suddenly and sanction this foul.
Therefore, despite the fans' protests, the referee gestured for play to continue without taking any disciplinary action.
After making this gesture, he glanced at Lin Huang. The latter, after winning the ball, didn't even look at Richardson on the ground and ran directly towards the ball.
This kind of determination and attitude reminded one of Keane, the former captain of Manchester United.
But wasn't Lin Huang a Manchester City player?
How could he inherit the steel gene of Manchester United?
After seeing the main referee's decision, the fans at the stadium were not happy.
They didn't hesitate to boo the referee team officiating the match.
And not only was the referee booed, but so was Lin Huang, who made the tackle.
When Lin Huang was taken down by their players earlier, they cheered loudly.
But now, when Lin Huang responded in kind, they couldn't accept it. Each of them wished they could run onto the field and pull a red card out of the referee's pocket for Lin Huang.
The double standards of Fulham fans were clearly shown at this moment.
Because the match continued and Manchester City had possession of the ball, Fulham players couldn't worry about Richardson, who was on the ground.
After moaning on the ground for a long time and realizing no one was helping him, he had to get up by himself and limp back into the game.
Lin Huang's hit was quite strong, and when Richardson fell to the ground, he doubted if his leg had been fractured by that guy.
But the hit was on the front part of his bone, which is considered a hard hit. The bone wasn't broken, there was just intense pain.
Feeling the sting in his leg, Richardson unconsciously kept his distance from Lin Huang.
At this moment, he didn't dare to actively seek trouble with Lin Huang. Lin Huang's tackle had left a shadow in his mind.
Richardson finally understood that this guy was the type who hit back, was cruel to himself, and even crueler to others, so he wouldn't provoke him easily!
If you can't provoke someone, does that mean you can avoid them?
Reality showed that he really couldn't avoid it.
Not seeking trouble with Lin Huang didn't mean Lin Huang wouldn't come to seek trouble with him.
At the 44th minute, the ball returned to Lin Huang's feet, who launched another attack from the right side towards Fulham's area.
As a fullback, Richardson had nowhere to go and had to face him.
Fortunately, this time the ball was at the opponent's feet, there shouldn't be a way to be taken down again, right? Reality showed that he had thought too simply.
Seeing Richardson hesitate, Lin Huang directly surpassed him with a quick move.
Richardson quickly blocked his position and tried to grab Lin Huang's jersey to stop him.
But Lin Huang expected this. He approached the other side and used a wrestling skill to take down Richardson, who took several steps back and fell to the ground.
Meanwhile, Lin Huang continued towards the area, dodged Strecklenborg, and scored in the empty net, changing the score to 2-0.
After scoring, Lin Huang didn't celebrate with his teammates but approached Richardson:
"Thanks for your welcome, I hope you like my way of hosting!"
The players of both teams and the fans at the stadium stared in astonishment at the scene on the field. Had they not seen it wrong? A rookie newly arrived in the Premier League was teaching a lesson to a veteran player of the league?
...
With a 2-0 lead, Manchester City substituted many players in the second half, and Pellegrini began to try various defensive combinations to see which he liked best.
In theory, such a big change in defense should be an opportunity for Fulham.
But Fulham's attacking style was too one-dimensional. They found it difficult to make combination plays on the ground and could only send high balls and crosses from the flanks.
After Manchester City's defenders adapted to this attacking style, it was difficult for Fulham to pose a threat.
In the 79th minute of the second half, Lin Huang assisted Agüero to score another goal, changing the score to 3-0.
Finally, with goals from Lin Huang and Agüero, Manchester City defeated Fulham with a score of 3-0 in the first preseason match of the new season.
Five days later, Manchester City returned to their stadium to face the challenge of Arsenal, a Premier League giant.
Arsenal was much stronger than Fulham.
Their players were experts in ground combinations, which was completely different from Fulham's game of sending high balls.
Faced with Arsenal's dazzling ground play, Manchester City's defensive line couldn't adapt to the pace of their attack.
Before the first half ended, Arsenal had already scored two goals in Manchester City's net.
The goals were by Walcott and Ramsey, with Walcott contributing an assist in addition to his goal.
Walcott was signed by Wenger when he was 17 years old and was a very promising young player in his view.
And his performance lived up to Wenger's expectations.
Last season, Walcott scored 21 goals in all competitions, averaging 0.5 goals per game, becoming Arsenal's top scorer.
This season, to retain Walcott, Arsenal, at Wenger's request, offered him a weekly contract of £100,000, equivalent to about €6 million a year.
For a young 23-year-old player, this salary was already very high.
But on the opposing team, there was someone whose salary was four times higher than his.
Seeing Walcott wreak havoc on Manchester City's defense, Lin Huang couldn't just stand by.
In the first half, he also contributed a goal and an assist, scoring a goal himself and assisting Silva for another.
Both teams ended the first half tied 2-2.
Neither team was satisfied with this score.
Pellegrini was dissatisfied with how easily his team's defense was penetrated by Arsenal's combination tactics, while Wenger was upset that his team couldn't control the midfield and their defense couldn't stop Lin Huang.
Therefore, both teams made adjustments during the break.
Arsenal replaced the contact-averse Özil with Spanish international Cazorla.
This change had a significant effect, as Cazorla quickly assisted his teammate to score a goal and helped Giroud score in the area.
Arsenal temporarily led Manchester City 3-2.
However, Cazorla wasn't a player with a very robust physique and strong in body-to-body combat.
Although he improved the connection with his teammates after entering the field, he didn't solve the problem of Arsenal's lack of aggressiveness.
With Lin Huang retreating to the defensive midfielder position, Manchester City put pressure on Arsenal in the midfield.
Possession gradually fell under Manchester City's control, but with Lin Huang retreating, the front attack lost connection, and the attacking strength decreased significantly.
At this moment, Manchester City fans clearly felt the role Lin Huang played in the team.
Although Lin Huang had been with the team for a short time, he had already become indispensable for Manchester City.
"This kid can help the team in the front attack, control the midfield after retreating, and as a winger, he can not only break through and score but also send high-quality crosses from the side for his teammates to score. He's like an all-terrain monster!"
On Arsenal's bench, assistant coach Pat Rice was surprised by Lin Huang's performance on the field.
Although Lin Huang played as a free player and his position wasn't fixed, this was too much freedom!
This versatile player made it difficult for Arsenal to defend.
"Yes, Lin is a great player."
Wenger's evaluation of Lin Huang was even higher than that of his assistant because, after all, this was the "lost love" he once had!
In the 72nd minute of the match, Lin Huang received the ball in the defensive midfielder position. Before the opponents could pressure him, he observed the opponent's defensive position.
Agüero saw Lin Huang with the ball and immediately ran, trying to create space for himself.
After being bypassed by Lin Huang several times, Agüero already had full confidence in Lin Huang's passing ability.
Although the distance between them had widened a bit at this moment, he had no doubt that Lin Huang could pass him the ball if a space opened up for him.
And he was right!
Seeing Agüero's movement, Lin Huang decisively kicked and launched a long pass of more than 40 meters.
The ball seemed to have eyes and perfectly found Agüero in his run.
When Agüero received the ball, he realized he had space in front of him.
The combination of Lin Huang's pass and his movement had broken Arsenal's defensive line.
(End of chapter)
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