Kente pursed his lips but didn't speak. He was unhappy, but he couldn't express it; he could only attribute it to his own inadequacy.
If he could also neutralize Lu Yang, then the head coach would definitely not substitute him, and San Remo would definitely not be able to revitalize their midfield.
"Hey!" Lu Yang followed Kente at a certain distance and said, "No matter the outcome of this game, I'd like to exchange jerseys with you afterward, is that okay?"
Kente turned and glanced at Lu Yang, somewhat surprised.
He's not one to initiate jersey exchanges, and he's even less likely to be asked to do so, so Kente has never exchanged jerseys with anyone so far.
This is the reality for many shy, ordinary players.
Kente nodded, but said, "We will win. Without me, the team's attack will flow more smoothly."
Lu Yang shook his head. "But we can too."
The camera captured it all.
Although Nice fans couldn't see the lip movements, they expressed their dissatisfaction with Lu Yang's behavior.
The referee came over and told Lu Yang that he couldn't deliberately provoke the opposing player with words. Kente explained on Lu Yang's behalf, "He didn't provoke me. You misunderstood. We were discussing exchanging jerseys later."
The referee was stunned. Goodness, this year's Europa League Sportsmanship Award has been found.
So, the referee, who was reaching into his pocket for a card, casually wiped his hand on his chest to hide the embarrassment of almost giving the wrong card.
There are good and bad referees too.
How to distinguish them?
Besides being able to execute certain "special tasks" as outlined above in crucial matches, you need to be good enough in regular matches.
Otherwise, you wouldn't even be qualified to be a whistleblower.
Not all gold whistles are black.
But every black whistle must have once been a gold whistle.
Popular players like Lu Yang are the kind of players that all referees will specifically study before a match. Because if you make a crucial mistake against him, and things blow up, your bonus for the season is gone.
Furthermore, your future prospects will also be affected.
But the referee's action drew a chorus of boos from the crowd.
The boos were directed at the referee, at Lu Yang, and especially at Kente, who was defending Lu Yang.
Even Nice's manager was at a loss for words when it came to what to say to Kente.
Praise him for his sportsmanship?
But if Nice doesn't perform well in the Europa League this year, this manager might be sacked. What kind of sportsmanship is he going to praise then?
Back on the court.
In the 65th minute, San Remo's Soto made a substitution.
And they made three substitutions in a row!
Moric and Soto had just spoken with Sottu when Kente was substituted.
The opponent's trump card has been played; we can now intensify our offensive!
Therefore, for San Remo, Beretelli replaced Fernandez.
Versace replaced Baizami.
Both players were substituted off as a precautionary measure, and it was also related to their excessive physical exertion and decreased impact.
However, Versace did not move to Baizami's left winger position; instead, Lu Yang moved up to him, and Versace played in Lu Yang's midfield position.
Lu Yang has frequently appeared on the front line this season because he is very adaptable to different positions.
In addition, Soto replaced Latuidi with Lam.
The meaning is equally obvious.
Lam's defensive ability is certainly inferior to Latuidi's, especially in terms of anticipatory interceptions and tackles.
But... Lam is young and can run.
Latuidi was a raider and Destroyer in his youth, but he doesn't run around much in San Remo. He's more like a support character, and coverage area is no longer his strength.
This is the change that time brings to a player.
"Upgrade Lam" means that our defensive intensity can decrease, but our defensive range needs to increase.
It means that the opponent's attack isn't that strong. Our goal is to reduce their attacks, but even if they manage to get some in, it's okay, our defense can hold.
This is a blatant disregard for Nice's attacking capabilities.
This also indicates that San Remo is about to launch a major offensive, which will cause their midfield and forward lines to become somewhat disconnected from their defense, requiring Lam to fill the gap.
This is an open card!
Nice fans quickly discovered a problem.
So, they substituted Kente, who had been making Nice's attack sluggish, but why did Nice's situation become even more complicated?
Nice's attack was fluid, but they created far fewer attacking opportunities.
Conversely, San Remo's attack became increasingly fluid, and their attacking opportunities increased rapidly.
A long-range shot from here, a cross from there.
The newly substituted players performed well; there were no problems.
In the 78th minute of the match, Moric was completely revived.
He used a Flip Flap in the middle, drawing two defenders before passing the ball to Lu Yang.
Lu Yang dropped back to receive the pass and made a one-two pass.
Moric makes a one-two pass.
Hit the wall!
Hit the wall!
The two players Ping-Pong Dribble repeatedly in the midfield, as if they were in an empty field.
The San Remo Twins's Ping-Pong Dribble shines in European competition!
Finally, Moric faced a one-on-one challenge against the Nice center-back at the edge of the penalty area, executing a graceful Marseille Turn.
Nice's center-back positioned himself laterally, Moric collided directly with him, failing to dribble past him.
but...
People don't cross the ball!
Moric had planned this play carefully; he never intended to simply get past his opponent.
He used a half Marseille Turn, and when he was halfway through the turn and his feet touched the ball for the second time, he exerted a powerful pull, his feet pulling the ball with tremendous force.
The football rolled straight into the penalty area.
Lu Yang, having crashed his way through the walls, charged straight into the restricted area.
Nice's other center-back was already behind, making it impossible for him to intercept the ball.
So he charged straight at Lu Yang.
Bang!
This was a physical confrontation inside the penalty area.
It has a similar feel to steel bars against cement.
What shocked Nice fans was that their 1.9-meter tall center guard, after colliding with Lu Yang, seemed to be bounced back and remained frozen for about a second.
Lu Yang, who also suffered the impact, was slightly bounced away, and even knocked down.
However, during the fall, Lu Yang touched the ball with his left foot.
Impact, touch, fall – a trinity.
Lu Yang did three things at the same time.
A shot from a tight angle found the net, leaving the Nice goalkeeper helpless against the sudden attack.
"GOAL! Another goal! San Remo are in the lead!"
"That was absolutely an artistic goal! Two players from San Remo broke through both of Nice's midfield and defense!"
" Moric's Marseille Turn assist was incredibly inspired. A player who can break down basic technical movements at will must have an incredibly solid technical foundation!"
" Lu Yang's ability to withstand physical challenges has clearly exceeded the expectations of Nice's center-backs."
"That's incredible! Lu Yang scored that goal entirely through physicality and confrontation!"
"We usually only see this kind of physical battle in the Premier League!"
"Although Lu Yang has played center-back, that was when he was 1.78 meters tall. His physical strength has been underestimated by many people!"
In fact, Nice's center-back was somewhat wronged in this incident.
He was afraid of going too far with the collision, causing Lu Yang to roll around in the penalty area and thus earning a penalty, so the center-back held back a bit of his strength.
As a result... he knew things were going to go wrong the moment he bumped into it.
Given Lu Yang's strength, even if he went all out, it would probably be a 50/50 match.
You're a midfielder playing as a striker, and you even have physical strength comparable to a center-back? How are others supposed to compete?
Similarly, the commentators began praising Soto: " Soto's substitution was excellent; he scored just ten minutes after the substitution, which absolutely demonstrates the manager's ability!"
"We've seen that San Remo's attack has become significantly more aggressive since Soto made the substitution."
A large group of commentators, but not a single one of them mentioned Kente had just come off the field.
Even if a very few top-tier commentators could see that Nice's conceded goal was related to Kente's substitution, they wouldn't dare to say so.
Because Nice's attack really flowed smoothly after Kente came off the field.
You can't just say that because your performance is smooth, you have a problem.
This kind of question is difficult for professionals to explain to ordinary fans, and even if they did, the fans might not believe it.
As the saying goes, people can only see what they know.
Nice are in a panic!
Their winger, Ebo, frequently called for the ball, but to little avail.
Nice's through balls were intercepted by Lam several times.
Even if Ebo runs past them, he won't be able to get past the veteran center-back pairing of Palacios and Bernulini.
Eighty-fifth minute.
The combination of Beretelli's skillful play and Canyes ' lightning-fast speed on the flanks allowed them to break through Nice's left flank.
Canyes delivers a superb cross.
Nice's center-back leaped high and successfully cleared the ball.
Moric stood outside the penalty area, facing the oncoming ball, his left foot planted, his right foot raised, poised to take a long-range shot.
Bang!
Moric didn't take a long-range shot!
He changed his right-footed shot to a corner, but the ball landed on his left side.
There, Lu Yang, who had just completed his run down the flank, quickly retreated to the half-space so that he could stop the opponent's counter-attack immediately if the team's attack failed.
This relentless defensive habit of running around created an opportunity for him to shoot from long range.
Bang!
On the left flank outside the penalty area, the defenders' primary target for blocking was still Moric.
By the time they ran towards Lu Yang, it was clearly too late.
This position is a no-brainer.
Lu Yang fired with his right foot!
Batigoal!
chua!
The football shot into the net, giving the Nice goalkeeper not even a chance to raise his hand.
That's too fast!
The soccer ball made a distinctive sound as it hit the net.
Three to one!
Lu Yang rushed towards the corner flag area, leaped high into the air, spun 180 degrees in mid-air, and landed heavily, like a god descending to earth.
"LU!"
The entire stadium chanted the name on Lu Yang's back!
Yes, the entire audience!
There are actually quite a few fans in Nice who are familiar with Lu Yang.
Nice fans have seen Lu Yang's exceptionally domineering celebration and that "LU" many times before.
But this is the first time they've done this on their home turf.
The impact of a star player's popularity and fame was fully demonstrated at this moment.
If Lu Yang didn't have such a big reputation, even if he orchestrated San Remo's comeback today, he wouldn't have received this kind of treatment from the home fans who turned against him!
"Oh! Shocking! This is absolutely the most shocking moment of this round of the Europa League!"
" Serie B, a young Serie B San Remo, conquered the Nice fans and the Allianz Riviera Stadium with just one match!"
"Two goals and one assist! Lu Yang is God on this field today, making the France follow tradition and surrender!"
"You know, this is his first Europa League match!"
"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, his name will be on the Europa League top scorer list after this match, and he might even be at the top!"
"A born killer! Let's give this young man the warmest applause!"
"Oh, I just learned a little anecdote. In the far east, Lu Yang has a very famous nickname—'Lu at the End-of-the-Road Lu '!"
"It means that whenever the team is in trouble, when they are at their wits' end, you will see Lu Yang step up to save the team!"
Seven minutes later.
"The referee blew his whistle three times, ending the match! Congratulations to San Remo for coming back from a goal down to score three goals and secure a resounding victory against Nice, the top team in Group C!"
"This is definitely good news for young San Remo!"
"Ah! The result of the other Group C match is in! Red Bull Salzburg and Zenit Saint Petersburg drew 1-1! San Remo takes the top spot in Group C with three points!"
"These young people are amazing! I just checked the data, and there are only five new teams in the entire Europa League that managed to win their very first match after qualifying for European competition. They are..."
San Remo fans erupted in celebration.
The start of this season feels so unreal.
Too dreamy.
On the football field, Lu Yang found Kente on the Nice bench and exchanged jerseys with him.
Kente smiled slightly.
Although the team lost, he still experienced his first jersey exchange since joining a professional team, which was very meaningful to him.
But Kente's smile was not understood by fans or even his teammates.
"Your defense is very strong. You will definitely become one of the most dominant defensive players in football in the future!" Lu Yang offered his blessings.
"But I'm bad at other things, my dribbling, passing, shooting..." Kente lacked confidence, except for his defense.
"Nobody's all-around. Look at me, I just..." Lu Yang was speechless. He thought he was pretty all-around, so he pointed to Moric, "Look at him, his physical strength and speed aren't that great, and his defense can only rely on stealing passes. But I think he might become the best attacking midfielder in football in the future!"
"Besides, the weaknesses you mentioned can all be improved through practice. While it's not easy to reach the top level, it's possible to get them very close. At that point, you won't have any weaknesses!"
"Come on, little guy, oh no, Kente!"
Deeply moved, Kente took the initiative to hug Lu Yang.
But all of this, coupled with his previous explanation for Lu Yang, made Kente the "culprit" for the team's loss after this game!
Traitor! Why are you defending Lu Yang?
< Europa League Moral Excellence Player? But your team lost the game!>
<Attack the constipation machine! Those under 1.7 meters tall are not suitable for playing soccer!>
Go back to your Mali, France doesn't welcome you!
<A disgrace to Nice! He was chatting and laughing with opposing players after the match!>
Is Lu Yang's jersey really that much to your liking? Is he your ideal Sophia of football?
Local Nice newspapers began a large-scale attack on Kente, taking actions that aligned with public opinion.
The entire Nice loathed this incompetent player.
Many people don't understand why Nice's coach would put a player with such poor passing, shooting, dribbling, and ball control on the field, just for his highest interception record in Ligue 1 so far?
But he didn't score that much higher than the second-place finisher.
Regarding this, the Nice coach actually wanted to say, "I don't really want to use him either, but when this little guy is on the field, our defensive stats are against strong teams. When he's not on the field, our defensive stats drop significantly. What can I do?"
This is a puzzle that the Nice coaching staff has yet to solve.
The appearance or absence of a single player can drastically change a team's defensive performance, which is difficult to explain using scientific theories.
It can't be said that the defensive capabilities of the other players automatically improved after Kente came on, can it?
In fact, that's exactly how the data reflects this.
On the other hand, San Remo, having secured their first victory in European competition, received praise from the entire Italy media.
In particular, they are currently leading Group C, bringing glory to Italy.
The Italy second division beat Ligue 1, one of the Top Five Leagues. What level do you think Serie A is then?
France media outlets have also begun citing classical texts in response.
What? We lost to San Remo in Ligue 1 last season when Ligue 1 fifth, which is one thing, but your Serie A champions also lost to San Remo last season? Doesn't that mean if your champions came to Ligue 1 1, they wouldn't even be able to qualify for the Champions League?
A significant-scale information war broke out between the two sides.
Fortunately, this is just the beginning, and both sides still have room for maneuver.
San Remo's head coach's office.
"Are you telling the truth?" Soto looked at Lu Yang and Moric sitting in front of him.
"Of course, he's definitely a defensive anchor, even more so than me!" Lu Yang said enthusiastically. "Go find everything you can about him; you'll agree with my assessment."
Soto pondered, staring at the bald, dark head on the computer screen.
After the match against Nice, Lu Yang and Moric spoke highly of Kente and hoped that Soto could push for a deal to acquire the player.
This is a player who can significantly improve the team's overall defensive quality.
The last player like that was Lu Yang.
However, because Lu Yang also had to focus on offense, Lu Yang didn't actually perform as well as Kente in that position.
Unless Lu Yang moves back to the defensive midfield position and suppresses his natural tendency to push forward.
That's clearly impossible.
That's a huge loss.
"Alright, I'll have someone keep an eye on him," Soto said. "But he's already played for Nice this season, so even if we can buy him in the winter transfer window, he won't be able to play for the team in the Europa League."
"In addition, the team's recruitment work next season will be very important, and we will not spend too much money on a defensive player who is only 1.68 meters tall."
Lu Yang said, "It's not necessarily necessary to sign him in the winter transfer window. He's already become public enemy number one among Nice fans, and his treatment within the team will only worsen."
"His defensive leadership qualities require teamwork to be fully realized. Towards the end of the league season, the team is already struggling with fatigue, and coupled with poor teammate relationships, his contribution to the team's defensive capabilities will be minimized."
"At that point, he'll just be a finisher who excels in individual defense, and his contribution to the team might be negative. He'll likely be dropped from the starting lineup by the head coach."
This means that Kente's market value will drop.
Get the bamboo shoots!
Kente currently valued at less than ten million euros, and that's only because he was the Ligue 1 Tackle King last season. He's highly sought after but hard to find; nobody would buy a 1.68-meter- Tackle King.
If Lu Yang's plan is followed, Kente's market value will drop by at least a third by the end of the season!
This wait eventually led to Lu Yang's annual salary.
Great deal!
"Ding! You have led your team to their first victory in the Europa League, and have acquired the player-level skill, Hand Grenade Throw-in!"
" The Hand Grenade Throw-in greatly enhances the distance and speed of your throws, making them a direct threat!"
This is one of the rare skills that Lu Yang acquired that doesn't provide attribute boosts.
However, this skill has a relatively strong tactical function.
Especially when your team has a strong heading ability.
Four days later, San Remo maintained their winning streak in the fourth round of the league.
They easily defeated their opponent 2-0.
Lu Yang scored twice in this match, showing excellent form, and continues to lead the Serie B top scorer list with eight goals.
Moric and Bernulini provided him with assists.
San Remo's 3-5-2 formation gradually stabilized, and the players adapted to it.
This marks San Remo's sixth consecutive victory across all competitions this season.
They were invincible.
But a week later, San Remo faced Monza, a strong team in Serie B, for the first time, and they immediately felt how obvious the polarization of strength in Serie B was.
The regular Serie B teams ahead of them couldn't put any pressure on San Remo at all.
But Monza almost completely overwhelmed San Remo's 3-5-2 formation on the field.
Fortunately, Soto made three substitutions in the 70th minute, changing the formation to 4-3-3, which allowed them to withstand the opponent's fierce attack and pull back a goal.
Ultimately, the San Remo and Monza ended in a 2-2 draw.
San Remo's six-game winning streak has been broken.
In this match, Canyes assisted Lu Yang, Soguer assisted Baizami.
With this, Lu Yang's goal tally has reached nine!
Throughout September, he scored in every match he participated in.
Nine goals and one assist in five league games – an incredibly high efficiency.
The team also has four wins and one draw, ranking in the top four along with Monza, Bologna and Sampdoria. They are all teams that are still undefeated in Serie B so far!
San Remo is a newly promoted team, Monza is a strong team in Serie B, and Bologna and Sampdoria were Serie A teams last season.
The top tier of Serie B teams has already been formed.
The second tier of teams are not necessarily inferior to them, such as Perugia, Empoli, and Vicenza; they just haven't adjusted their form yet.
October 2nd.
Serie B officially announced Lu Yang as their Player of the Month for September!
This award was established last year by Serie A, following the example of the Premier League and the NBA, to recognize the most dominant and best-performing player of the month. This year, it has been expanded to include Serie B.
Last year in Serie A, three players won this award: Inter Milan's Gutierrez, Izelet, and King of the Violets's Carlisle.
This award has proven to have an extraordinary ability to create stars.
Or rather, players who win this award all have the potential to become superstars.
Lu Yang has undoubtedly become a superstar in Serie B.
He thus gained two basic points and a player-level skill, " Beastly Physicality ".