Football: I can see player entries.

Chapter 260 Reunion in the New Season

The new season begins on August 15th.

The start will not be easy for Burton, as their first opponent is Tottenham Hotspur.

The opposing coach is Mourinho, who just replaced Pochettino.

The good news is that this match is being held at their home stadium.

"I said we would meet again on the field soon."

"Yes, I just didn't expect it to happen so quickly..."

In the players' tunnel, the two greeted each other naturally, and then neither spoke again.

The first match is very important for both sides.

No one wants to suffer a major setback at the very beginning of the season.

So, the rules are the same this time as before.

They will all give it their all.

This is not a good time to reminisce.

"This is the first match of the new season, with Burton Albion, the newly promoted team that finished seventh last season, facing Tottenham Hotspur, the Champions League runners-up!"

"Both sides have had good results before. Although Tottenham just brought in Mourinho as their head coach, we all know that he will only help the team's strength here."

"Meanwhile, Burton brought in many key players such as Dybala and Godin."

"We have reason to expect something to happen next..."

With the referee blowing the opening whistle, the highly anticipated match officially began.

Li Yanqing used the new lineup he had trained with.

4—1—3—2.

Compared to before, they've lost a defensive midfielder and added Dybala as a shadow striker.

But their playing style is completely different from before.

4—2—3—1一般是从4—5—1转换过来，更加注重防守。

而4—1—3—2则是从4—4—2转换而来，是进攻型的阵容。

Li Yanqing finally made this crucial adjustment in the Premier League.

That is, to break away from the defensive counter-attacking system that the team previously relied on too much.

So he boldly fielded all the new players.

Dybala, Mangala, Manolas, Godin...

It is worth noting that in order to bring on Blind, he moved Mangala to right-back and put Sun Yan on the bench.

This kid has made great progress in tactics and defensive awareness, but his individual skills haven't improved much. He still relies on his physical strength and speed to play.

This made Li Yanqing somewhat dissatisfied with his progress.

Let's get back to the match.

Mourinho didn't try anything new; he used the same tactics as his predecessor and didn't even make many changes to the players.

The only thing Burton can be thankful for is that their midfield maestro, Eriksen, seems to have had some conflict with the club and has therefore been benched.

This meant that Burton, while not having much of an advantage on the field, also found it difficult to break through.

The combination of Manolas and Godin is several levels more stable than Bradford and Araujo.

They haven't had much time to gel, but for a mature guard, who his partner is sometimes not that important.

As long as it can compensate for the other party's weaknesses, that's fine.

Harry Kane, Tottenham's most relied-upon striker, is in good form, but he was surprised to find that Godin's marking ability far exceeded his expectations.

Often, the ball is barely near him when the opponent blocks his position, and then he loses possession.

He wasn't sticking to his man; instead, he suddenly appeared next to him just as the ball was about to arrive...

Kane was very unaccustomed to this kind of unpredictable defense.

In addition, the midfield passing is not as reliable as Eriksson's, so he basically didn't touch the ball much.

The attack was inexplicably stopped just before it reached the penalty area.

Compared to him, Son Heung-min, playing on the wing, seemed even more frustrated.

He was facing Mangala, and the match had only been going on for a little over ten minutes when he had already been knocked to the ground several times by this rough-looking guy...

Unfortunately, his opponent was quite fast and always managed to hold him off in time.

"They are really capable."

"But have you considered what would happen to Bradford's position if he came back?"

"He's the captain, after all..."

Lehmann was amazed by the ability of his defensive partner, but at the same time, he also felt a little worried.

He had always groomed Bradford as the key figure in his career.

We can't just abandon our own captain because of technical issues, can we?

"Don't worry, those two can't be on the field all the time."

"Manolas seems poised to secure a starting position long-term, but Godin..."

"He still has age-related issues."

As Li Yanqing finished speaking, he looked in the direction of Brinder.

Besides center-back, Bradford can also play on the left wing.

If the former still hasn't found his place when he comes back, then I'm sorry.

He can only go back to being a substitute, or be sold as previously mentioned.

"But these are all minor issues."

"This season we have the FA Cup, the league, the Europa League..."

There are plenty of matches.

"I'm worried we won't have enough players."

Despite Burton Albion's seemingly large squad, their first team only has twenty-four players.

It also includes three young men from the youth training team.

"Anyway, don't worry about that."

“We spent nearly £200 million in this transfer window, and if we don’t perform well, Chris will kill me.”

Li Yanqing was now thinking about the requirements the club had given him before.

They really set their sights on the championship.

They don't think they'll win the FA Cup yet; they believe that winning the Europa League or the league title will further enhance the team's prestige.

Just then, Burton's players launched a beautiful attack.

After intercepting the ball in the backfield, Manolas immediately passed it to Quinn, who then passed it to the right front, where Anderson was waiting.

He didn't need to use his brain much; he just sent the ball into the opponent's penalty area.

[Masterful cross from the byline!]

Leading the way was the tall Ogradi, who, along with the opposing defender Vertonghen, leaped high into the air at the same time.

However, the opponent's heading ability was also quite good, so he didn't gain any advantage.

Ultimately, the ball that wasn't headed rolled out of bounds.

"I'm inside!"

Look where I am!

Dybala was clearly unhappy with the play, but he couldn't say much, only reminding his teammates to be more careful.

Actually, the ball itself wasn't a big problem, but it wasn't his preferred style of attack.

Quinn was in charge of leading the attack, but the issue of his and the opponent's core playing style had not been fully resolved.

Just now, the two of them were standing at position two.

There was one on each side, but neither of them picked up the ball.

"Okay, here's the problem."

"It's early, that's a good thing."

Li Yanqing glanced at his watch; the match had only been going on for about twenty minutes.

Unfortunately, Mourinho seems to have also noticed this problem.

He then called the assistant coach over and whispered something to him...