Chapter 70: Trippier Suffers a Critical Blow! Legendary Players from "BBC" Pay Attention! [35]
The game slowly passed the 70-minute mark. The Barnsley coach didn't substitute Trippier, who already had a card, but he did take some precautions.
He switched Shackell, the other full-back, to Trippier's side and sent Trippier to the other side.
This could alleviate some of the pressure Maël was bringing to bear on them. Even if they couldn't defend against him, they could stop him by fouling.
Anyway, Shackell didn't have a card and had one chance to make a mistake. The cost of a yellow card was definitely acceptable.
"Bang."
In the 72nd minute, Maël dropped back and received a direct pass from Lotton. He was about to pull the ball back and turn around, but he sensed a defender rushing up behind him.
He glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and pretended not to notice, still making the motion to pull the ball back and turn around.
But at the last moment, he suddenly hooked the ball to the left of his body, choosing to cut inside!
Shackell, who had rushed up, was instantly shaken off. The Sheffield United's midfielders and forwards launched a four-pronged attack, rushing towards their backfield, and the situation was in crisis.
"Oh!" A cheer came from the away fans' section, as the fans cheered for Maël's wonderful move.
Shackell's brain was filled with blood, and he was stimulated by the away fans. After getting carried away, he stretched out his right hand and grabbed Maël, using all his strength to stop him.
Another foul! Still so obvious, such a big movement to obstruct the foul! "Stupid donkey!"
This time, it was the Barnsley coach who had switched Shackell to this position whose brain was filled with blood. He had just switched him over, so how could he have rashly thrown away the chance to make a mistake? He returned to the bench in a rage and called for a full-back to warm up, ready to make a substitution.
"Beep!"
The referee's whistle sounded, and he rushed towards Shackell, took out a yellow card from his pocket, and held it up high.
"My bad." Shackell waved his hand to his teammates, gritting his teeth. He finally understood the pressure Trippier had just been under.
Maël then took the free kick. The quality of the ball wasn't high, and it was headed straight out of the penalty area by the opponent's defender, eliminating the threat.
He wasn't discouraged, jogging slowly to adjust his breathing, waiting for the next opportunity.
"Bang!"
Six minutes later, he took a corner kick from the wing. The ball was headed out by a Barnsley defender, but Gilbert received the ball at the second point.
Gilbert wanted to lob the ball into the penalty area again, but restricted by the pressure of the opposing players, he could only turn around and pass it back.
"Push up! Push up! Push up!"
Barnsley's center-back roared, waving his hand to signal his teammates to push out of the penalty area and move the offside line forward.
Otherwise, they would only end up being passively beaten all the time.
Maël noticed this and guessed that there would be some confusion when the defense line moved forward, so he quietly came to the center position.
"Bang!"
Janu Hans, this experienced teammate who understood him, captured his movement and sent a pass that tore through the defense.
Beautiful! Maël completed his turn the moment he received the ball, and took advantage of the time it took for the opponent to react to start his attack.
"Force him!"
The first to come up were the players from the opponent's midfield line. They approached Maël, but no one really put pressure on him.
Because there was no time to allocate responsibilities, they all regarded themselves as the one providing cover. Although someone shouted, no one went up to force him.
Maël wouldn't give them time to correct their mistakes. He dribbled the ball past the midfield line in a few steps, facing the opponent's defensive line directly.
The opponent's center-back had no choice but to retreat, hoping that Maël would make a mistake himself before going up to intercept the ball.
However, someone couldn't wait any longer.
"Sizzle!" Trippier, who was seeing red, rushed over from the other wing, chasing back sideways, and ushered in another opportunity to face Maël.
This time, he came with an inevitable momentum, flying out with a sliding tackle, wanting to redeem himself and save the team from danger.
What he didn't expect was Maël's reaction speed. The other party seemed to sense it, and hooked the ball inward the moment he slid out.
His sliding tackle didn't hit the ball, but just tripped Maël! The force of this foul wasn't great, so there shouldn't be any risk of injury, but it was definitely enough to meet the yellow card standard.
"Damn it!!" Protests came from the South Stand of the away team, and thousands of away fans stood up, raising their hands to express their dissatisfaction.
They all knew about Trippier's yellow card and that this foul could get him sent off, so they did everything they could to pressure the referee.
Trippier stood there, vaguely feeling a ringing in his ears, as if everything around him had turned into an illusion.
He saw his teammates looking at him in confusion, saw the Sheffield United players noisily running towards the referee, and saw Maël get up from the ground after a roll, gesturing at the referee with his hands spread.
Finally, he saw the referee running towards him, his right hand reaching into his pocket.
"Whoa!" Trippier snapped back to reality at that moment, hearing the uproar in the stadium and the referee's voice, "Yellow card! Two yellow cards accumulated, red card! Please leave the field immediately!"
He moved his legs, which were almost losing sensation, and a mix of emotions surged into his heart: regret, annoyance, confusion, and grievance.
He was born in '90, three years older than Maël, but he was completely outplayed by him on the field.
There was no doubt that this was a huge blow to his confidence, and he would need a long time to recover.
After leaving the field, he saw that the coach didn't seem to want to talk to him, so he slowly walked towards the player tunnel alone.
"Yeah!!" At this moment, the South Stand erupted in a roar filled with countless passions, so powerful that it disturbed the peace of the entire stadium.
He subconsciously glanced back and saw Maël spreading his hands, sprinting towards the corner flag, and leaping high to throw a rising dragon punch.
Looking back at the penalty area, the rudimentary wall of five Barnsley players was still there, and the goalkeeper was getting up from the ground, spreading his hands towards those forming the wall.
It was clear that Maël was taking the free kick and scored directly!
"Ouch," Trippier grimaced. He didn't expect that his emotional low point wasn't over yet, and he would be hit again before leaving the field.
He would never forget this game.
...
"Premier League Round 17 Report: Newcastle United 3-1 Liverpool, the biggest upset of the round!" – The Guardian
"Focus Battle: Manchester United defeats Arsenal 1-0 at home, Park Ji-sung scores the winning goal! The gap between the two teams in the standings reaches 9 points!" – BBC Premier League Column
"Fabregas has not started in two consecutive rounds since his return. Has he been abandoned by Wenger?" – France Football
"Sheffield United defeats Barnsley 4-1 away, Maël forces 3 yellow cards, 1 red card, scores 1 goal and completes 2 assists, controlling the entire game!" – BBC EFL Championship Column
"13 goals and 13 assists! After 20 rounds of the league, Maël's total goal contributions surpass Sean Long, the second-place holder, by 4 goals!" – Sheffield Evening News
After the match day, British football media published the latest news about the Premier League and EFL Championship, and even many foreign media joined in the fun.
Most people focused on the Newcastle United 3-1 Liverpool and Manchester United 1-0 Arsenal threads, speculating wildly, some mocking the losing teams, some making jokes, and some providing rational analysis, in short, all kinds of things.
Christmas was approaching, and the halfway point of the league season was about to pass. At this time, football was always particularly popular.
Fans were looking forward to the Boxing Day battles, hoping that their favorite players would receive the honor of being the best of the first half of the season. They were enthusiastic and kept an eye on football news every day.
Under the posts about Maël, many new faces poured in this time.
"26 goals in 20 rounds? What a monster? Wait... 17 years old?!"
"I'm not optimistic about his ceiling. His dribbling only involves shaking and running, his shooting only involves blasting, and he has no creativity."
"Yes! He gives a sense of separation. Although he scores a lot of goals, he is very monotonous, and he can't head the ball!"
"Reading fans and Watford fans, get out! Isn't it just that Sean Long was blown up, and Graham is about to be brushed down? Are you nervous and protecting your own?"
"Insightful!"
"I hope Maël can still increase the intensity of the EFL Championship in the second half of the season. If he can win the Golden Boot or the Assists Leader, it must be a record."
"If a 17-year-old can achieve these two achievements, the word 'genius' is not enough to describe him."
"..."
And this time, the people discussing him were far more than just the fans online.
Even a program on BBC mentioned his name, raised by two former Premier League superstars.
In a program hosted by Lineker, a famous English commentator and former professional player, viewers saw a familiar face, the legendary Alan Shearer.
He is the holder of the Premier League goal record and the greatest star in the history of Newcastle United.
After the two chatted about the interesting things in the Premier League, Alan Shearer took the lead in mentioning Sheffield United, "Remember Gareth Speed? My friend, he is now a coach and is doing very well."
He took out his mobile phone and found a few posters of Gareth Speed celebrating passionately on the sidelines, placing them in front of Lineker.
"Are you tempted too?"
Lineker gestured to the backstage broadcast staff to bring up Gareth Speed's poster on the big screen, then asked, "Any plans to become a coach?"
"I have no such thoughts."
Alan Shearer shrugged regretfully, then continued, "Speaking of him, I remember watching two EFL Championship matches at Bramall Lane some time ago, and Number 31 on their team was impressive."
"Maël?" As a media person, Lineker knew a lot of information, but usually didn't have the opportunity to talk about it.
Now that Alan Shearer had brought it up, he could naturally use this to expand the topic.
"I think so."
Alan Shearer looked curious and asked, "Is he famous in the EFL Championship? I heard he has already achieved the feat of creating more than 15 goals, and he's not even 20 years old this year."
"You're wrong."
Lineker gestured to the broadcast staff again to switch to Maël's poster, and he introduced the latest news: "He is 17 years old this year, from the youth training of an amateur club in France, and came to Arsenal youth training a year ago."
"17?!" Before he could finish speaking, Alan Shearer interrupted him with trembling lips, "God, too young."
Lineker waved his hand to signal him to wait a moment, and continued, "There's also one more thing, your information is outdated. Just yesterday, his goal contributions exceeded 26, and this was achieved in 20 league rounds."
Alan Shearer was silent, shaking his head and winking, wanting to hear Lineker say that he was joking just now.
"Really."
Unfortunately, Lineker extinguished his hope, and this person was still popularizing knowledge: "He has already attracted the attention of some wealthy teams. Rumor has it that Ancelotti has asked Abramovich to buy him, and Tottenham, West Ham and other teams also want him."
"Are there any offers?" Alan Shearer turned his head and asked, already deeply shocked.
"More than ten million pounds."
Lineker gave him the final blow, and Alan Shearer didn't speak for a long time.
After reacting, he chose to divert his attention by teasing his friend Gareth Speed, "I was wondering why Gareth Speed could win the Manager of the Month award, it turns out there's a divine striker in the team."
Alan Shearer joked, "I was thinking, with his coaching level, how could he bring a turbulent team to the top four."
"Still in the top four after 20 rounds."
Lineker shook his head and sighed, advising Alan Shearer not to be too arrogant when saying these words: "This means that he has the possibility of leading the team to Promotion to the Super League."
"Haha!"
Laughter rang out in the broadcast room, and the former Newcastle United striker laughed so hard that he bent over, "If he can lead Sheffield United to Promotion to the Super League, I'll streak naked in the Thames River."
"You can not expect him."
Lineker was also amused by him, but still reminded, "But you can't not expect that little genius, he is as brilliant as if he has magic."
Speaking of which, he was really looking forward to the kid's data at the end of this season, and his future performance in the Premier League.
Even if the EFL Championship level is not high, and there is more than one level gap with the Premier League, this efficiency is really too outrageous.
Alan Shearer was still laughing, he looked at the barrage area of the broadcast room, wanting to see what the fans' reactions were.
However, apart from some people popularizing Maël to others, the traffic in the barrage area was obviously much less.
Did they go to check the player?
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