The strongest blade in football

Chapter 138 Two Fingers (4000 words chapter)
For Manchester City, this game is a good opportunity to score points.

At present, in the standings, Chelsea leads with 28 points in one more game, leaving Manchester United, Arsenal, and Manchester City with 23 points. The competition is fierce.

Manchester City's opponent Birmingham currently has 2 wins, 6 draws and 4 losses, ranking fourth from the bottom in the standings. They have not won an away game this season.

They have been an elevator in the Premier League in recent seasons, with ups and downs.

So in Mancini's plan, the three points at home must be won, and they must be won beautifully.

On the official poster before the game, Manchester City generously put Wang Nuo in the C position, with Balotelli and Silva on both sides, and the title was "Youth Power!"

Indeed, Wang Nuo is 19 years old, Balotelli is 20 years old, and Silva is 24 years old. They are all very young. Among them, Wang Nuo and Balotelli are candidates for this year's Golden Boy Award.

Wang Nuo appeared in the C position of the poster, not only because he will play the No. 9 position in this game, but also because Manchester City is showing favor to the Chinese market.

China, which is comparable in size to the whole of Europe, has always been a football market that Manchester City is eager to develop.

From the love in China that started with the transfer of Sun Jihai in 2002 to the re-start now with Wang Nuo as an opportunity, they all demonstrate Manchester City's inherent advantages.

At the same time, Manchester City also has the determination to develop a good market.

They don't want to just rely on Wang Nuo to sell some jerseys in China and disappear without a trace.

The Abu Dhabi consortium behind Manchester City hopes to establish a long-term and stable relationship with the Chinese football market.

From sponsors, to TV broadcasts, to Chinese websites, to cooperative development of youth football, and to cultivating fan groups.

Recently, Manchester City plans to open official fan clubs in 13 major cities in China, and will also come to China to play business friendly matches next summer.

And the foundation of all plans is Wang Nuo.

His competitive state and future growth are very important. He is the bridge between Manchester City and the Chinese market, and it is also the advantage of Manchester City temporarily leading other clubs in the Chinese market.

After all, Manchester City is not the only European club to explore the Chinese market.

As far as the Premier League is concerned, Premier League clubs including Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, etc. all attach great importance to the Chinese market.

How to stand out depends largely on which team Chinese fans like.

In China, it was hard to say in the first two years, but now, Manchester City, which owns Wang Nuo, has quickly become the most popular club among fans.

According to a commonly used domestic search engine, the term Wang Nuo ranked 183rd in the name search frequency list throughout the second half of the year, 11th in the second week of November, and 84st on November 11. 11 bits.

Behind such numbers are the hands and gazes typing on the keyboard, people's curiosity and eager expectation, and also invisible pressure.

Wang Nuo enjoys playing football under pressure. The pressure makes him more motivated, and the huge pressure makes him excited, thus maintaining a strong desire to win.

But many people don't know this characteristic of him, and some people try to help him, such as coach Mancini.

As the Premier League's first start, before Wang Nuo played, Mancini had done "decompression" for him.

When facing reporters at the pre-match press conference, Mancini deliberately said some disappointing words——

"Sometimes, England is like Italy. When a young player performs well in a certain game, all the media will exclaim 'XX is an unbelievable player'!"

"When fans read what the newspapers say about him, it's a psychological cue: 'He's a top prospect, he's a top prospect'!"

"And what are the facts?"

"The truth is, he's still a long way off and his understanding of the game isn't there yet."

"He's only played a little over 20 Premier League games when he's under 10, and it's unrealistic to think he's going to go sky-high."

"As a coach, my expectation for young players is just to follow the tactics and make no mistakes, it's as simple as that!"

Wang Nuo understood the reason why the boss said this to the reporter.

Mancini wanted to push Wang Nuo out of the spotlight as much as possible, lest he be dazzled, and in case of poor performance, be killed by the media and fans.

This also means that Mancini will bear some "attacks" from fans of Wang Nuo.

Some of the attacks came from within China, where there were quite a few voices calling him out of class, and compared with China, Manchester was no different.

But that doesn't matter, Mancini is rebellious and has a personality, he doesn't take other people's voices seriously.

Before the game against Birmingham, there were obviously more Asian faces in the stands than usual.

Because it was the weekend, the attendance rate was comparable to the Manchester Derby in the middle of the week, and the stadium was basically full.

This is a rare sunny afternoon, and the temperature of around 14 degrees is just enough to keep the audience and players in a good state.

Wang Nuo was in a relaxed mood. After scoring a goal, his impetuous mentality has gradually calmed down a lot.

Half an hour before the start of the game, he received a text message.

"The smoked salmon appetizer in the box tastes good, the waiter is also very handsome, he handed me a list, I bet 300 on you, if you score, I will win 2000, lol, you will enter, Is it right?"

Emilia Clarke really came. Looking at the text message, Wang Nuo saw her smirking while sending a message in his mind.

It didn't take long before Wang Nuo entered the stadium. He looked at the high box, searched for a long time, and finally found his goal.

As expected, she opened the door of the box and was standing in the outdoor area watching the game.

Emilia Clarke spotted Wang Nuo and waved to him.

Wang Nuo also responded to her. Although they couldn't see each other's face clearly, they still greeted each other from a distance.

Wang Nuo suddenly wanted to score a goal in the game.

Not long after the warm-up was over, he reappeared through the player tunnel.

The DJ shouted Wang Nuo's name, and the cheers of the fans were no less than that of other big-name players in the team, which was also mixed with sporadic cheers in Chinese.

When Wang Nuo looked again, he found that she was gone, so he put all his energy into the competition.

After the referee blew the whistle, Wang Nuo could only think about playing football.

In this game, Birmingham ranked 442. They showed no flinch at the beginning, and they wanted to fight with Manchester City. They vowed to avenge their 1-5 defeat last season.

Their two strikers, No. 19 Zikic and No. 10 Jerome, work together very well.

As a big man of 2 meters, Zikic not only has excellent header ability, but also has first-class ball skills.

And Jerome's running position and speed impact, combined with Birmingham's high-altitude play, caused a lot of trouble for Manchester City's defense.

For most of the first half, Birmingham were trying to get the ball flying in the sky, bang, bang, bang, lobs.

What Manchester City did was to make the ball run more smoothly on the ground.

Playing in a place like England where all the central defenders are tall and strong, those long volleys flying up the field are not easy for Wang Nuo.

The opponent's guards such as Roger Johnson and Dan are all over 1 meters tall. It is difficult for Wang Nuo to solve the problem with his head.

On the contrary, a short pass that is fast and can release one side of the space will be very effective. The most important thing is that Wang Nuo likes the ball at his feet.

David Silva knows this, and he often drills with Wang Nuo in training to try to isolate the running position of the opponent's defender.

Once those attempts are successful, then Wang Nuo will be one-on-one with the Birmingham defender, and Wang Nuo is likely to win.

But if Wang Nuo is asked to be a static "9", waiting for the winger's cross, Wang Nuo will not be able to exert the strongest power.

After half an hour of entanglement with Birmingham, Manchester City gradually took the initiative on the court, relying on the width of the court and Wang Nuo's pull.

In the 37th minute, De Jong intercepted the ball in midfield. After Wang Nuo retreated to catch the ball, he quickly formed a series with Silva.

After Silva received the ball, he quickly passed the ball to Yaya Touré. The Ivorian took the ball to the front of the penalty area to score. out.

In the 41st minute, Manchester City made a comeback, Wang Nuo cut into the penalty area with the ball, and his shot hit Carl and went out of the baseline.

Before the end of the first half, Silva and Yaya Toure also had two shots, which also only blossomed but did not bear fruit.

In the end, the first half was tied 0-0.

Several unsuccessful attacks hurt morale, especially against such an underdog team who failed to score in the first half.

Mancini criticized the performance of some people at half-time.

For example, Balotelli, his right wing did nothing, and Milner, he handled the ball too rough a few times, which violated the overall rhythm of the team in this game.

Wang Nuo also felt uncomfortable.

The boss didn't talk about him, but he felt that he didn't play well. Except for those shots, he didn't meet his expectations in other aspects.

Especially in the first 15 minutes of playing, he lost the ball twice in a row.

At one point, he tripped while going to catch the ball, stumbling and missing the ball again.

Wang Nuo said to himself in his heart, "If you only play to this level, you deserve to be a substitute. You can't even pass a Birmingham defender. How can you score a goal tonight?"

Of course, Wang Nuo doesn't think that Birmingham's defenders are not good enough, but just thinks that he should not be of this level.

After the start of the second half, Tevez really started to warm up on the sidelines, and Adam Johnson was warming up with him. Wang Nuo felt a deep crisis.

Adam Johnson is a bit like him in style. The reason why Mancini put him on the bench is because he doesn't like defense and has a poor off-court style. His own ability is fine.

Facing the situation of being replaced at any time, Wang Nuo tried to run more actively, retreat, and pull sideways, but the situation did not change. Instead, because he played too hard, the frontcourt offense was somewhat disordered.

In the 63rd minute, the fourth official raised the substitution card. Wang Nuo glanced at it immediately. Fortunately, the red number was 45, and Balotelli was replaced on the right.

Adam Johnson came on.

After he came up, sure enough, the offense on the right improved immediately!
He was very fast, and his multiple breakthroughs attracted Birmingham's attention.

At the same time, Wang Nuo was surprised to find that his opportunities suddenly increased.

Both Silva and Johnson are feeding him a steady stream of shells.

Sometimes, things on the court are so strange, Wang Nuo didn't feel any changes in himself for a few minutes before and after, but luck suddenly was on his side.

In the 71st minute of the second half, Adam Johnson's push from the right side of the penalty area was blocked by the defender, and the football just flew towards Wang Nuo impartially.

It was a half-high ball, and Wang Nuo was less than five meters away from the goal!
Goalkeeper Fortes just made a saving action a second ago, fell to the ground and has not stood up.

No one expected that Wang Nuo could get the ball, and there was a very short hesitation.

What should we do at this time?
Under normal circumstances, such as in training, Wang Nuo would definitely send the ball into the net with a beautiful volley.

But in the game, he had no time to react and make a move, and the ball had already been unloaded by his chest subconsciously.

Damn!

This missed the opportunity of the fighter, and in an instant, two legs were blocked in the direction of Wang Nuo's shot.

Fortes also tried to climb with surprising speed.

At that moment, Wang Nuo was almost ready to get kicked. After all, as a striker, it is one thing to make a shot and be blocked, but it is another thing to be directly destroyed by a defender in front of the goal.

But just when he was about to kick his feet indiscriminately, the remaining sliver of reason gained the upper hand——

The angle is sealed and there is no chance of scoring.

How to do?
At the last moment, Wang Nuo's tricks that he practiced without sleep and food saved him!

Wang Nuo in the small penalty area unexpectedly chose to get rid of the ball!
He pinned down the falling ball with his foot and pulled back abruptly, allowing Ridgwell to clear the air, followed by a heel smash that put Roger Johnson out of position again.

When he dribbled the ball to the right with his left foot, his right foot swung quickly and he shot a violent shot!

So close to the goal, Fortes simply couldn't make a save.

The football hit the net above the goal!

Thunder Clap!
Wang Nuo didn't expect that he scored again in this game, scoring goals in a row!
At this time, there was only one sentence flashing in his mind - Wang Nuo, you are so lucky!

The fate of being replaced was almost certain, but because of Adam Johnson's appearance, he picked up a "wallet" in front of the door!
This can simply be called a gift of fate.

Oh, lovely Adam Johnson, Wang Nuo turned down his invitation to go clubbing together when he was playing an away game in London.

After that, the relationship between the two was quite normal.

Unexpectedly, in such a game, he gave Wang Nuo such a gift.

In any case, Manchester City took the lead!

This goal also made the home fans breathe a sigh of relief, otherwise, it would be really depressing to be tied by Birmingham at home.

Surrounded by his teammates, Wang Nuo celebrated enthusiastically.

After he had intimate contact with several sweaty arms, when he was about to return to the middle circle, he suddenly remembered something!

That's right, Emilia Clarke's pre-match bet was right!

Wang Nuo's mood immediately improved. He proudly stretched out two fingers in the direction of the box, shook them vigorously, and won another burst of cheers!
In the eyes of the fans, Wang Nuo's hand gesture may mean victory, which means victory, or it may mean two goals, which means his second goal in the Premier League. In short, they cheered along.

Only the jumping and jumping woman outside the box understood that Wang Nuobi showed two fingers, meaning——

Your £2000 is here!

The score of 1 to 0 was maintained until the end. While Manchester City won the game, it also completely swept away the previous downturn and won the record of three consecutive victories!

Once again, Wang Nuo, as the creator of the only goal in the game, was selected as the best player in the game!
It was a rare sight for Mancini to wrap his arms around Wang Nuo's neck when the player was off the court, and hugged him into his arms.

This is usually only Balotelli's treatment.

"Follow me to the press conference after the game, you did a great job!" the Italian praised in Wang Nuo's ear.

Wang Nuo knew very well that the goal in this game was purely luck, but the result of competitive games comes first, and winning is winning.

He accepted a post-match interview, heard sweet words from the reporter, returned to the locker room, and his teammates also congratulated him one after another.

After a while, when he was about to attend the press conference, he turned on his phone, and there were several text messages in it.

Wang Nuo hurriedly browsed through the pages, and suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he clicked on one of them.

"Unbelievable, we won a huge sum of money, haha! I'll give you half of it! Come find me tomorrow, how about we go out and hang out?"

　The writing is too slow, time is not enough, please change first!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)