Chapter 45

The Wigan Athletic players looked very confident as they took the field, which the commentator found strange.

Because everyone had analyzed it during the halftime break, the situation in the second half would gradually become unfavorable to Wigan Athletic, and the balance of victory would gradually tilt towards Liverpool, where Chen Hero played.

Their stamina would not be able to support the team until the end of the game.

As time passed, Liverpool would regain control of the game, and then Chen Hero's goal would naturally come—provided that Chen Hero would not explode from his temper and pressure before that.

The TV broadcast also knew this, so when the players appeared, the TV broadcast gave Chen Hero a close-up shot, wanting to see some clues from his face.

When Chen Hero's close-up appeared on the screen, everyone squinted attentively, wanting to see if there were any expressions on Chen Hero's face.

They were disappointed. There was no expression on Chen Hero's face. Neither the anger at the end of the first half nor the confident smile. You just couldn't see anything from his face.

※※※

The commentators and TV viewers were observing Chen Hero, and Caldwell was also observing Chen Hero.

If Chen Hero showed anger like he did in the first half, he would know that he would have an easier time in the second half. Unfortunately, he didn't.

He frowned.

In fact, he wasn't the kind of player who liked to stir up trouble. He wasn't Chen Hero. He provoked Chen Hero in the first half just to anger Chen Hero and make him lose his composure. Of course, he knew that the consequences of angering Chen Hero were not good, but he thought this game might be different, because Chen Hero was burdened with the task of scoring goals, and the pressure was already great. If he got angry in this situation, he might completely lose his composure, so maybe he would have a chance.

He also knew that if it was really a head-on confrontation, he couldn't last too long...

He knew coach Martinez's plan. He had to compete with Chen Hero on the field for the entire ninety minutes. If he didn't use some tricks, he was afraid he wouldn't be able to last ninety minutes.

Now, Chen Hero was completely different from the end of the first half. He thought that Martin O'Neill must have said something to him during the halftime break to appease him.

This wouldn't do!

Caldwell felt that if things continued like this, it would be very dangerous. He had to think of a way...

Continue to anger him!

If one fire wasn't enough, he would add two more, and if two fires weren't enough, they would have three!

He noticed that Chen Hero was also looking at him—there were still two layers of teammates between him and Chen Hero, but he was sure that when Chen Hero looked over, he was looking at him, not someone else.

He gave Chen Hero a thumbs up, then turned it over, with the thumb pointing down!

This was a rather obvious insulting gesture.

It meant—you're nothing! You can't do it!

The thing a man can't stand the most is someone saying he can't do it!

Chen Hero clenched his fists. If he could, he really wanted to punch the other party in the bridge of the nose, guaranteeing to make his face bloom like a peach blossom.

But he knew that this wasn't the best way. The best way was to score a goal first, and then go up and beat him until his face bloomed like a peach blossom.

But this wasn't the most perfect way.

The most perfect way was to score a goal and then use a celebration gesture to make his face bloom like a peach blossom.

Apart from clenching his fists, he didn't make any other movements. He just glared at him.

You just wait, you little brat!

※※※

Caldwell saw the change in Chen Hero's expression and waited for him, and was finally happy—there was a reaction! It was good to have a reaction!

Come on, let your anger burn even more!

It would be best to burn yourself to ashes!

※※※

After the game started, the commentators explained to the TV viewers why they were not optimistic about Wigan Athletic.

"There are now five Wigan Athletic players on the field with yellow cards, four defenders and one midfielder. It can be said that they have paid a very heavy price in the first half to prevent Liverpool from scoring. In this way, the forty-five minutes of the second half will be torture for their defenders. Because Liverpool can attack any point at will and continue to put pressure on them, they can make Wigan Athletic collapse! Their defenders have yellow cards, so they will definitely be hesitant when defending, and the defensive effect will be reduced. I dare say that in less than ten minutes in the second half, Wigan Athletic's defense will have problems!"

Before ten minutes had passed, Wigan Athletic's defense had problems.

Suarez made a strong breakthrough and got past Ghouri. At that time, Ghouri originally had a chance to stop Suarez, as long as he inserted one of his legs between Suarez's running legs...

But if he did that, he would definitely foul.

If it was the first half, he would have done it without hesitation.

He didn't dare to do it in the second half, because he had a yellow card. He didn't know whether this foul would cause him to get a card. It seemed that giving a card completely depended on the referee's mood. What if his foul caused him to get a second yellow card? It would be a trivial matter for him to leave the field, but once he left the field, the team's overall defense would definitely be destroyed. If there was a loophole in a defensive line, Liverpool would definitely take advantage of it. With Liverpool's ability, grasping this opportunity might only be a matter of three or four minutes. At that time, Wigan Athletic might not even have time to complete the substitution.

So he chose to protect himself and let Suarez go.

Fortunately, captain Caldwell was very focused and quickly made up for it. Taking advantage of the opportunity that Suarez took a little too much, he made a fierce, beautiful, clean, and neat sliding tackle and kicked the ball out of bounds.

After getting up, Caldwell roared at Ghouri: "How could you let him pass like that! You have to make a decisive move!"

"But I have a yellow card!" Ghouri also felt very wronged. The tactics adopted by the team were originally walking on a tightrope, but he didn't want to be the first person to fall off the tightrope.

Caldwell couldn't continue to complain about his teammates, because this was indeed a very real problem.

So he turned his attention to the coach's bench. Although the second half had only started for less than ten minutes, judging from the current situation, it was time to implement the plan!

※※※

Martinez also knew this, so he decisively made a substitution.

He also responded to a question that commentators frequently raised in the first half—Wigan Athletic was so aggressive and fouled so much, weren't they afraid that the players wouldn't have the stamina in the second half, and that they would be restricted in their defense with yellow cards?

Martinez's substitution told the commentators that he was of course afraid, but he had a way to deal with it, and that was...substitution!

Yes, use substitutions to solve the problems of players' lack of stamina and yellow cards in one fell swoop.

The defender has a yellow card? Substitution!

Lack of stamina? Substitution!

The substituted players are full of stamina and are still clean. They can do whatever they want with confidence.

Ghouri, who made a mistake, was substituted.

Some smart commentators had already guessed Martinez's thoughts, but they still had doubts: "...If Wigan Athletic does this, are they not going to attack? This is their home field! If he uses all three substitutions on the defensive line, what about the attack? Wigan Athletic rarely had attacks that could threaten Liverpool's goal in the first half. If they don't strengthen their attack in the second half, I'm afraid they will have even less of a chance..."

These commentators still didn't see that Martinez didn't send out the team's main shooter, Scott Sinclair, in this game.

Instead, he sent up Callum McManaman, who was full of energy. The most prominent feature of this post-90s young player is his running ability. His running ability is even comparable to that of a defensive midfielder.

Isn't this tactical intention obvious enough?

Wigan Athletic simply sacrificed their attack! They are doing everything they can to ensure that there are no problems in the defense line.

Their pre-match slogan of "We want to defeat Liverpool" actually meant not letting Liverpool score. Even a draw would be considered a victory for Wigan Athletic...

Sacrificing the attack in exchange for absolute stability in defense, successfully blocking Chen Hero's continuous scoring pace, and completely shattering his dream of creating a new record against Wigan Athletic!

In order to prevent Chen Hero from scoring, Wigan Athletic has gone to this point, really doing everything possible.

They firmly believe that they can do it.

※※※

Martin O'Neill also reacted when he saw Martinez's substitution—Wigan Athletic was sacrificing their attack to strengthen their defense...

Completely abandoning the ability to score goals in exchange for an extremely solid defense in ninety minutes...

He turned his head to look at Martinez.

How ruthless!

No wonder he can successfully lead Wigan Athletic to relegation at the last moment for several years in a row. Maybe it's because of this ruthlessness and the team's meticulous execution ability?

He has been managing Wigan Athletic for five seasons. Through his outstanding performance, he has won the respect and trust of everyone in Wigan Athletic, and has also built Wigan Athletic into a solid fortress that only listens to him.

This person should not be underestimated... He is now limited by Wigan Athletic's strength. If he is given a stronger team, I believe he will quickly become an excellent coach.

Faced with such a ruthless Martinez, what can Martin O'Neill do?

He can only strengthen the attack, asking the full-backs to press forward and assist in the attack, and continue to put pressure on Wigan Athletic's defense line.

He could see that whichever side was under greater pressure and couldn't hold on, Martinez would quickly substitute that player.

In this game's substitute list, I believe Martinez brought all of Wigan's defenders...

But he only has two substitutions left. He can't possibly substitute all eleven players on the field, right?

Martin O'Neill now has to compete with Martinez in patience. It depends on who has better patience and who can wait until the end.

Martinez's team is really gritting their teeth and persevering, while he is waiting for Wigan Athletic to make mistakes.

He is now worried about one problem...

He turned his attention to the field and landed on that big guy.

Chen Hero, you kid, don't collapse before the opportunity comes!