October 24th, Sheffield United welcomed the 13th round of the EFL Championship, playing away against Doncaster.
Doncaster is a relegation-threatened team in the EFL Championship, currently ranked 20th in the league, and their strength is not considered high.
The team mostly plays in the third and fourth tier leagues.
In order to fully rotate core players, Gareth Speed still did not choose to let Maël start, and even put the two offensive cores, Janu Hans and Lotton, on the bench.
He has reason to do so, as Sheffield United has been on a roll recently, in great form.
Moreover, the EFL Championship, with a season spanning 46 rounds, does require a better rotation mechanism to ensure the players' combat effectiveness in the later stages of the season.
If nothing unexpected happens, then something unexpected will happen.
Inside Keepmoat Stadium, more than ten thousand home fans propped up today's cheering formation, with a huge momentum, shouting out the feeling of thirty thousand people.
"Bang!"
In the 33rd minute of the match, Doncaster's number 10 core, Sharp, made a low sweep in front of the goal after dribbling down the wing.
The following center forward Coppinger pushed a shot, and the football flew into the goal with lightning speed, giving goalkeeper Robert no time to react! One to zero!
"Oh!"
Cheers rang out, Coppinger rushed to the sidelines and passionately knee-slid to celebrate, and after getting up, he vented his emotions by punching and roaring towards the stands.
This was not over yet, 9 minutes later, Sharp received a pass in front of the arc of the penalty area, and then even broke through two people into the penalty area, using his weak foot to shoot the ball towards the far corner.
"Swish!" The football touched the side netting on the right side, the goalkeeper really didn't have time to get down, and could only watch the football go into the net.
Two to zero! Sharp used a brilliant performance of 1 goal and 1 assist to help the team expand its lead.
"Yeah!"
After scoring, he raised his hands high, making a celebration gesture of reigning over the world, as if controlling the entire field.
This is a vibrant team, even if their hard power is not good, they can occasionally give those who underestimate them a heavy blow through their strong cohesion.
On the sidelines, in the coaching seat, Gareth Speed's face was a bit dignified, and he felt very annoyed.
Since taking office, he has been paying 'tuition' because of his lack of experience, and often makes some wrong judgments and decisions.
However, these costs are not something he can bear alone.
He must consider the club's fans, management, and some players with bigger goals.
No one likes to lose, likes to fail.
He must think of something! After hesitating for a while, Gareth Speed still shook his head slightly, changing the formation and pressing the entire line for attack are not the best policies in the current situation.
The most stable way is to replace the three players who were rotated, and see if they can change the course of the game through their own abilities.
This is the only attempt he is currently capable of making.
"Janu Hans, Maël."
Gareth Speed decided to replace two first, leaving one for backup, "Warm up, substitute at the end of the first half."
His eyes were full of hope, with a feeling of placing all his hopes on these two.
On the bench, Maël quickly stood up and ran to the warm-up area on the sidelines to jog and stretch.
The referee then blew the whistle for the end of the first half, and all eleven starters from both sides returned to the locker room to rest.
Maël did not go back, but continued to prepare with Janu Hans.
They knew what it meant for Gareth Speed to send them up at this time.
After the halftime break, the match was about to begin.
Gareth Speed walked out of the player tunnel and called Maël and Janu Hans to his side, holding a tactical board to make final instructions.
"The opponent's O'Connor and Joseph are two weak points on the defense line, and they have a large number of breakthroughs recorded in the EFL Championship."
He first looked at Janu Hans, "Try to find the left side where they are located when passing the ball, let Maël break through, and you also lean over to attack this side more."
Janu Hans nodded, and took a deep look at the opponent's left center back and left back.
"Maël, seek more one-on-one breakthroughs against Joseph."
Gareth Speed gestured on the tactical board, arranging Maël's tactical requirements, "He's not your opponent, be confident.
"Also, during halftime, I asked the players, and the ground is very wet, even a bit slippery."
"Doncaster must have watered the field heavily before the game, trying to catch us off guard by exploiting our lack of adaptation."
After saying that, he closed the tactical board, "Your Long Shots, you can hit them closer to the ground, or hit the ball with backspin for a bouncing shot."
Maël understood that the wet field was indeed conducive to Long Shots.
Whether it was the smooth flow of a ground ball or the acceleration of the ball after bouncing off the ground, it would create a lot of trouble for the goalkeeper.
He nodded to indicate that he understood, then turned and stood on the sidelines with Janu Hans.
When the fourth official raised the substitution board, Gareth Speed specifically walked over, looked at the two with anticipation, and patted their shoulders, saying his last hope: "Go for it! It's up to you!"
"Go! Go!"
The two clapped their hands and ran onto the field with a completely new look, which more or less influenced some of the dispirited Sheffield United teammates.
"Maël, let them taste the power of your Tomahawk Cannon!"
Gilbert, who knew about Maël's recent improvements in Long Shots, was the first to smile and remind him, "I'm counting on you."
Maël laughed loudly, not paying too much attention, just reminding him, "You better say the whole thing next time."
"Bip!!"
When all the players from both sides were standing in their positions, the referee blew the whistle to start the second half of the match.
Maël withdrew his other thoughts and ran towards the opponent's half.
Today, he really had to use Doncaster to test his improved Long Shot ability.
In the 57th minute of the match, Janu Hans received the ball and passed it to Maël on the wing, following closely behind.
"Bang!"
The two played a wonderful one-two pass, and Maël crossed the ball from the baseline, sending it directly to the back post of the penalty area.
Unfortunately, Gilbert, who rushed to the back post, performed abnormally and missed the ball, letting it go behind him.
Ward on the right wing quickly caught up, controlled the ball that was about to roll out of bounds, and ensured that possession was still with his side.
Maël breathed a slight sigh of relief when he saw this, and moved closer to the center, hoping that he could get a shooting opportunity at the edge of the arc.
He deliberately slowed down, running behind the opponent's defender, not rushing forward.
Ward quickly saw his intention and also discovered a hidden passing route.
"Bang!"
He didn't rush, first dribbling towards the baseline for a few steps, compressing the opponent's defense, and then suddenly swung back, flicking his ankle to send a ground ball.
The quality of the pass was very high, without bouncing in the middle, and it accurately landed on Maël's path.
Good ball, Maël thought in his heart, lowering his center of gravity to stop the ball, while raising his eyes to observe the opponent's goalkeeper's movements.
Seeing the goalkeeper leaning to the right, he took the ball a step outwards, making a preparatory movement to blast the far corner.
"Bang!!"
But at the moment of shooting, his ankle suddenly buckled inward, blasting the ball towards the near corner! Aiming right and hitting left, feinting to the east and attacking the west! The ball grazed the ground, heading towards the goal at an extremely fast speed, splashing a scattering of water along the way.
"Swish!!" The Doncaster goalkeeper stood there without reacting, and the ball rolled into the goal, hitting the lower left dead corner of the near post! This was a perfect Long Shot, even without height or a net-busting impact, but in terms of technical application and final result, it was perfect!
"Yeah!"
The more than three thousand Sheffield United fans who had traveled to the away game stood up in a frenzy, they saw hope again.
Maël, who scored his 6th goal of his professional career, was full of accomplishment, spreading his hands and sliding out on the slippery grass, sliding six or seven meters.
One to two!
A reward for coming on the field!
The lv4 Long Shot reduced the randomness of his shot quality, as long as he took a shot, it was very likely to be a test for the goalkeeper!
-----------
This high quality machine translation is powered by: https:// randomtranslator.com/
To read the full translation, as well as more than 130+ full translations or to request new translations, check out: https:// randomtranslator.com/
You can also join the Random Translator Community on Discord to connect with other readers: https:// discord.gg/NSWvfN7vua
-----------