I AM the Football Star

Chapter 214 - 79: Put Vedian On, I Only Play Against the Strongest!

The player with the number seven angrily bumped into Lu Yang.

Lu Yang was well-prepared and remained unmoved.

"I will mark you, you won’t be able to make any more plays, while I... can still score goals!" Lu Yang said with a smile.

At this moment, the referee came over.

The referee gave a stern warning to Lu Yang and the player with the number seven.

One was excessively provoking the opponent, while the other actively collided with the opponent; neither was easy to deal with.

Lu Yang nodded towards the referee, indicating that he would be obedient.

But as he turned around, he immediately looked at Benevento’s head coach, while nodding towards Vedian beside the coach, meaning "Boss, it’s time to bring Vedian on, this number seven isn’t cutting it."

In response, Benevento’s head coach pretended not to see anything.

Damn it!

Who I put on the field is none of your business!

If you have the guts, go command your own head coach!

The big screen accurately captured Lu Yang’s gesture.

It left people somewhat amused.

"Is Lu Yang eager to face Vedian because he’s concerned that Benevento is too strong? So he wants Benevento to take off their strongest attacking player?" Sky TV’s host said.

Maniero responded, "On the contrary, Lu Yang is a very straightforward person, he’s standing up for Vedian. It seems he thinks the player with the number seven isn’t as strong as Vedian, and Vedian deserves to play, even to start."

Host: "Sorry, Mr. Maniero, I find this a bit absurd! You just said that Benevento is strongest when the player with the number seven is on the field."

Maniero: "Perhaps sometimes Lu Yang has a better eye for players than I do?"

The host helplessly replied to Maniero: "Alright, does hoping for a stronger opponent make this approach correct?"

Maniero: "True lovers of football always want to defeat the strongest opponent! Otherwise, it’s an insult to the sport!"

"Do you know why the reputation of basketball has declined sharply in recent years? Because there, rarely anyone looks forward to facing the strongest opponent anymore. Some players prefer dirty tactics and injuring others, and fans never get to see top-tier clashes!"

"If the league doesn’t punish such behavior, then fans will punish the league, or even the sport itself."

"Players like Lu Yang will make football better."

Maniero went on at length, continuing to advocate for Lu Yang.

It made the host very uncomfortable.

In fact, he wasn’t entirely pessimistic about Lu Yang.

But Sky TV didn’t want to get involved early in Martivini’s re-election battle, so they had to remain neutral.

But now, Maniero, being part of the "Ma faction", was using the platform to constantly gain fans for Lu Yang.

From the perspective of some irrational people, this appeared to show Sky TV leaning towards Martivini.

By then, Sky TV might be forced to make choices.

...

Back on the field.

The match restarted.

Lu Yang’s recent zero-angle goal severely affected the mindset of Benevento’s players.

It’s not that their mentality wasn’t good enough, but rather Lu Yang’s shot was simply out of this world!

This caused some deviation in Benevento players’ execution of the head coach’s tactical arrangements.

They began to put pressure on Lu Yang holding the ball on the wing as well.

In terms of attitude, this was positive.

But in terms of effectiveness, it reduced the pressure on other areas of the San Remo players.

This is indeed the essence of a football match.

For excellent teams, from the first minute of the match, the game increasingly strays from the head coach’s tactical arrangements. In cases where the teams’ tactics do not mutually counter each other, the more a team deviates, the more disadvantaged they are.

The less a team deviates, the closer they are to success.

There are various reasons why such deviations occur, including referee calls, player mentality, missed opportunities, accidental goals, or even a successful dribble, among others.

But overall, the most important reason is the players!

This is the basis for the saying, "Coaches decide players, but players decide games."

Benevento’s head coach saw these changes, but just by shouting, he wasn’t able to influence the collective will.

Moreover, he also thought it was time to restrict Lu Yang’s ball holding on the wing.

Because, in the next twenty minutes, Lu Yang repeatedly attempted breakthroughs on the left side with a high success rate and made three crosses, creating considerable threats.

You’re cutting off the passes from our full-back to the winger, right?

Then I’ll, as an attacking midfielder, play as a full-back myself and bring the ball to the attacking front.

The ball is under my feet, just try and take it!

The more frightening thing is, when San Remo attacked, Lu Yang aggressively dribbled forward. When Benevento players had the ball, he fiercely marked the number seven player, as if living in their defensive end.

Giving the number seven player no chance to perform.

Opportunistic players often struggle against diligent defenders.

Whistle!

A whistle sounded.

Versachi fell to the ground.

Benevento’s number 10 player directed his teammates to double-team Lu Yang.

Lu Yang, however, used the Bengbu spin to find an opportunity to pass, distributing the ball to Versachi, who moved from the right back into the central midfield.

Because Lu Yang had drawn most of the opposing players away.

As soon as Versachi held the ball, he could directly reach the top of the penalty arc.

The threat was enormous.

So the number seven player, tugging from behind, brought down Versachi.

A free kick was awarded over forty meters away from the goal.

For this, the number seven player received a yellow card.

But it was worth it.

Because from this position, the free kick posed no threat to the goal.