There is a belief called football

Chapter 168 The Chinese Boy in White Hart Lane

In the past, North London was divided into two factions based on two stadiums. Tottenham people took "White Hart Lane" as their holy place, while Arsenal took "Highbury" as their spiritual home. Tottenham people had to detour through "Highbury", and Arsenal people passed through "White Hart Lane". In North London, people may break through race and religious barriers, but no one can mix white (Tottenham) and red (Arsenal). This is football.

On match day, the match between Tottenham and Norwich was scheduled for 3:[-] pm local time.

When he walked out of the hotel, Stan looked at the sky. It was cloudy and there was no rain. This is a good weather for London.

Stan arrived at White Hart Lane in a short while after he got on "Little Black" (the famous black taxi in London). There was still an hour and a half before the start of the game, and many fans had already come around the stadium. At this time, not many people entered the stadium.

Stan also planned to go to the fan store first. As soon as he entered, he saw many people picking out jerseys and waiting in line for the staff to print their numbers on them.

Stan went to look at the price. An adult version of the jersey was 55 pounds, which was much more expensive than other leagues. Stan was not going to buy a jersey, but he wanted to see whose number was the most popular. Not surprisingly, the most popular was the jersey of the Welshman "Bell", followed by the jersey of the Croatian "Modric", and the third was the jersey of the Dutchman "Vander Vaart". Stan took a closer look, and Wei Xiao did not make the top five.

This is also normal. In any team, it is the offensive players who receive more attention from the fans. This is a rule in the football circle. There are far more offensive players who have won the World Footballer than defensive players.

This phenomenon made Stan change his original decision. He took a jersey and joined the queue.

When Stan told the staff that he wanted Wei Xiao's number, the staff confirmed it twice with Stan, because usually except for the jerseys of "Adebayor", "Bell", "Vander Vaart" and "Modric", there are very few customers who want other numbers.

After buying the jersey, Stan saw that there was still an hour left. Generally speaking, in European leagues, it is best to enter the stadium half an hour earlier. At that time, the players will come out to warm up one after another. If you go in too early, you can’t see anything, and the empty stadium is very drafty.

Stan decided to go to eat something first, but the problem was that he had to queue up to buy anything in the fan plaza on the match day, but he had to wait in line for 20 minutes. Stan bought hot dogs and beer. At this time, Stan missed the feeling of the VIP box. There was everything there.

*****
When he entered the court to find his position, the players had already started to warm up. Stan hurriedly took out his notebook, and then looked for something on the court with eager eyes. Yes, he wanted to see if Wei Xiao started today.

Soon Stan saw Wei Xiao jogging without wearing a substitute player vest. Obviously Wei Xiao will start today, which is great. If Redknapp does not let Wei Xiao start today, then his trip to London will be in vain.

While Stan was writing and drawing in his notebook, a man beside him said softly, "You are a scout."

Stan ignores him.

He continued: "I have seen people like you, and Real Madrid sent them to investigate Bale."

This is because the British tabloid culture is too developed. After Ronaldo left the UK, he said that the British paparazzi annoyed him. Therefore, the rumors of Real Madrid’s interest in Bale have been circulating in the UK for a long time. As long as they see suspicious characters in the stadium, Tottenham fans think they are scouts sent by Real Madrid.

Stan thought to himself: "The Brits are so busy. We all buy tickets to watch the game. Why do you care so much?"

Stan turned his body over and continued to ignore him, but this aroused the other party's suspicion even more.

"Come on, this person is going to take our Bell", (Tottenham once said that Bell is not for sale).

Stan knew something was wrong at first glance, so he showed the man Wei Xiao's jersey he bought just now, then pointed to himself and said that he was from China, so that the other party did not regard Stan as a Real Madrid scout.

*****
Stan didn't even see the warm-up before the game after being made such a fuss. Stan really wanted to beat him up, but since he was unfamiliar with the place, it was better not to cause trouble.

Norwich is a weak team in the Premier League. Although it often overturns strong teams, but facing Tottenham, Norwich's performance is really poor. In the previous 12 matches between the two sides, Norwich has 1 win, 2 draws, and 9 losses. They are at an absolute disadvantage.

This is good news for Tottenham fans, but it is not good news for Stan. He is here to inspect Tottenham’s central defender. If the opponent is overwhelmed by Tottenham, the central defender will have no chance to perform. Stan also lost the opportunity to observe Wei Xiao up close.

Fortunately, the location of the court chosen by Stan is very good. It is in one of the 4 corners of the court. In this position, you can see the whole court without turning your head.

After the start of the game, there were no surprises. Tottenham’s frontcourt pressed Norwich to play, especially Bell’s continuous breakthrough on the left caused Norwich’s right to be under a lot of pressure. You must know that when Tottenham faced the defending champion "Inter Milan" in the Champions League a year ago, Bell performed 1 long-distance raids in the second half.

Now facing the fragile Norwich defense line, Bell is like entering a no-man's land on the wing. Seeing this, Stan really wants to buy Bell, but such a plot can only appear in a football game.

Perhaps the opportunity came too easily. After Bell made a steal, his shot against the goalkeeper turned out to be much higher. After flying the football that was close at hand, Bell himself covered his head, as if he couldn't believe his footwork.

But 5 minutes later, Tottenham’s midfielder Luka Modric dribbled the ball and feigned a shot. After successfully dislodging the opponent’s defender, Modric passed the ball to Bale on the left again. Bale did not stop the ball and volleyed with his left foot.

With Rudy's beautiful save, the Tottenham fans on the scene sighed loudly. Obviously, the "Great Sage of White Hart Lane" Bell's shooting today did not feel very good.

I have to admit that the fast pace of the Premier League is indeed very interesting. Unknowingly, Stan forgot the purpose of coming today, and his eyes were attracted by Tottenham’s beautiful offense. It was only when Bell missed the opportunity for the second time and the fans sighed that Stan remembered today’s mission.

He turned his attention to "Wei Xiao" in the backcourt. Although Tottenham's defenders have nothing to do now, it doesn't mean they can relax. Stan observed that Wei Xiao turned left, right, and sometimes backwards from time to time.

Stan knows that Wei Xiao is always observing the position of his teammates. Turning left is to look at the left back around him, and turning right is to look at his central defender partner. The purpose is very clear. The four defenders must maintain a line of positions.

Turning back is to observe the position of the goalkeeper. If the opponent suddenly counterattacks, then the central defender needs to know where his goalkeeper is, which is the last line of defense for the team.

There are several stands at White Hart Lane, and Stan deliberately chose the top stand. Looking down from here, you can clearly see the positions of the three lines of the team and the specific positions of each player, just like the angle of an overhead shot in the air.

For example, the running position of Tottenham midfielder Modric is very interesting. If Van der Vaart takes the ball, Modric will go to meet "Adebayor" on the front line, because Van der Vaart will not break through. He must pass the ball, and usually it is passed to Adebayor.

The point of running position is that players must know where the ball is going to go next point, and what I need to do is to move my position at any time according to the position of my teammates.

Therefore, after Wei Xiao observed the positions of his teammates, he immediately moved his own position accordingly. This made Stan understand that Wei Xiao is a player who plays with his brain and has a good sense of position on the court.

At the end of the first half, Tottenham had an absolute advantage, but the score was still 0-0, and they changed sides to fight again. Perhaps the old coach "Redknapp" criticized the team during the halftime break. In the second half, the team no longer relied on Bale to fight alone. Instead, the team played a little more complicated, passing a few more times in the midfield, and then giving it to Bale, so that the opponent would be difficult to defend.

In the 55th minute of the game, Van der Vaart passed the ball from midfield. Adebayor leaned against the opponent and protected the ball, while Modric came to respond, but Norwich already knew this move.

Bell accelerated the ball and passed it. When he reached 12 yards in front of the goal, the opponent's goalkeeper attacked to block Bell's ball. This time Bell was very calm. He learned the lesson of the previous two times. After passing the goalkeeper, he pushed the empty goal and Spurs led 1-0.

After conceding the goal, Norwich lost all confidence. After that, Tottenham scored another goal and finally defeated the visiting Norwich 2-0. This was also the last game of Tottenham in 2011. They dedicated a victory to the fans.

After the game, the fans stood up and applauded, unwilling to leave for a long time, but Stan had long since disappeared at this time, and he was going to meet Wei Xiao in the player tunnel for a while.

　ask for support
　　
　
(End of this chapter)