Chapter 66

(Collect, collect, collect, collect, collect...)

Newcastle upon Tyne, also known as Newcastle, is one of the most popular cities in England in the 20th century. The famous Newcastle University is located in the city center, making Newcastle a political, commercial, and cultural hub in northern England.

Newcastle United's performance in the league this season has been poor, and they are far from the ranking area for European competitions. The head coach, Samson, is determined to secure a place in the UEFA Cup for the next season by winning the League Cup. After seeing the lineup published by Jowen Xian in The Times, which included a mix of Chelsea's first-choice and reserve players, Samson decided to take advantage of the home ground at St. James' Park to effectively counter Chelsea.

In the first 15 minutes of the match, the game was chaotic due to the wild fouls by Newcastle players. Frank Lampard, who was clearly lacking in stamina, was predictably frozen out by Senegal's defensive midfielder, Faye. Chelsea's aggressive attacking tactics were half-failed. Nowadays, when facing Chelsea, Premier League teams almost unanimously choose to use a large-scale foul tactic to disrupt Chelsea's rhythmic attacks.

The referee, Widery, frequently blew his whistle, enduring the boos from the St. James' Park crowd, and continuously penalized Newcastle players for fouls. In the first 15 minutes, he had already shown two yellow cards. However, the Newcastle players were not intimidated by the referee's strict calls, as they had noticed that Chelsea's attacks were becoming increasingly disorganized, and the players were starting to show signs of frustration after being repeatedly tackled to the ground.

This was understandable, as in the previous match, Chelsea had suffered a major setback with their star striker, Owen, being sidelined for months due to a serious injury. This made Chelsea's players more cautious and hesitant when facing the opponents' rough defense.

With the team in a passive position, Boas was becoming restless on the sidelines. The team's bench depth was already insufficient, and Owen's injury made the situation even worse. The players' physical condition was already struggling before the FA Cup matches, and it seemed that Chelsea needed to become a focal point in the winter transfer market.

Jowen Xian stood on the sidelines, finally understanding why Arsène Wenger's team had a smooth start to the season but began to falter in the league and other competitions after November. With the depth of that Arsenal squad, it was indeed difficult for Wenger to achieve much, as even a skilled chef cannot cook without ingredients.

However, when he saw Newcastle's head coach, Samson, sitting with his eyes closed, looking confident and posing, Jowen Xian felt extremely annoyed and sneered, "Dare to act so smug in front of me? In terms of posing, is there anyone in the entire world of football who can surpass me, Jowen Xian?"

Through nearly 20 minutes of play, the old fox Samson's intentions were clear: to curb Chelsea's smooth cooperation through a tight defense and rough fouls, and to provoke the Chelsea players into losing their cool, making Newcastle's counterattacks more effective.

Samson is a capable coach, and he joined Newcastle with the goal of winning the Premier League title. For this reason, Alan Shearer, one of the best strikers in England in the 20th century, even postponed his retirement to help achieve this goal.

Samson's plans were well-received, and the St. James' Park crowd was jubilant. Although the football was somewhat ugly, even casual fans could see that Jowen Xian's team had been successfully contained by Newcastle.

However...

No matter how well-designed Samson's tactics were, they could not withstand Jowen Xian's cheating methods!

With the help of Source 1, Ruxiaopang (Rou Xiaopang) had ample stamina and was not easily frozen by ordinary defenses. His abilities had increased fivefold, making his movements on the left and center flanks exceptionally agile and light. He even felt that every time the boss "caressed" him, a huge energy was transferred to him. Could this be the "intense affection" training method that the media talked about?

At the 35th minute, with the referee Widery's whistle, Rooney's eyes were sharp as he stared at the opponent's goal, starting his run-up to take the free kick.

The commentator, naturally favoring Newcastle, cautiously said, "Rooney has a good free-kick technique. In the first Champions League match of the season against Paris Saint-Germain, he scored a world-class goal with a speed of nearly 200 km/h! So, for this free kick, Given must be on high alert!"

This time, Rooney did not display his power but his technique. A Beckham-like banana kick curved directly into the top left corner of the goal, leaving Newcastle's goalkeeper Given helpless despite his best efforts.

"This... this goal is in!" Huang Jianxiang was incredulous, exclaiming, "We all know that Rooney scored a powerful free kick in the Champions League. If we compare that goal to a heavy iron sword, then this goal is a crescent moon blade! Rou Xiaopang truly lives up to his £25 million price tag! As the most expensive player in the Premier League this season, he has not disappointed, shining brightly for Chelsea under pressure! Hmm... with a heavy iron sword in his left hand and a crescent moon blade in his right, if he could also perform the 'two-handed technique,' we would have every reason to believe that Rooney could become the top free-kick specialist for Chelsea and the Premier League!"

With the Newcastle players looking devastated, Rooney ran around the field, extending a finger to his mouth, mimicking a celebration gesture similar to that of Real Madrid's prince, Raul!

Instantly, St. James' Park fell into a deathly silence!

Even the confident Samson rushed to the sidelines, jumping around with a red face. The London TV commentator joked, "Samson is an excellent coach, but compared to Jowen Xian, his coaching ability is far inferior, especially his impulsive nature, which makes him look like a clown 'dancing' on the sidelines. This is something unimaginable for Jowen Xian..."

All the fans watching on TV saw the name on the back of the blue jersey through the close-up lens: Wayne... Rooney!

"Injured Owen, we still have Rooney! Rooney! Rooney..." After a brief silence, the traveling Chelsea fans shouted Rooney's name with all their might, showing that even if one Englishman fell, they still had another!

"Goal... the ball is in?... Uh... unbelievable, this ball actually went in..." The commentator, upon seeing the goal, instinctively screamed, then realized it was the opponent's goal and nervously added, "Uh... Chelsea is... really very lucky..."

Kaka, who was on the bench, saw Rooney's brilliant goal and felt a bit envious. As a top midfielder, free kicks were a weakness for him. He quietly approached Jowen Xian and asked, "Boss, can you teach me how to take free kicks like little Rooney?"

Jowen Xian, who knew nothing about it, rolled his eyes and said mysteriously, "The master leads you to the door, but the rest is up to you! I treat every player equally!"

Kaka pouted and returned to the bench, disappointed.

The game continued, and after the "unexpected" goal, the Newcastle players seemed a bit distracted, while the Chelsea players strictly followed Jowen Xian's "beat the fallen dog" tactic, repeatedly tormenting Samson and the fans.

Finally, near the end of the first half, the team captain, Terry, scored a header from a corner kick, making it 2-0! Chelsea's two set-piece goals completely shattered Samson's hopes of winning the League Cup.

Half-time break.

"Guys, you did well," Jowen Xian said, sitting in the main seat in the dressing room with his legs crossed. "Newcastle's head coach was actually sitting on the bench with his eyes closed during the first half, completely disregarding me, Jowen Xian! Comrades, can you tolerate this?"

"We can't tolerate it!" Terry led the way, raising his fist, and the substitutes, Ramos and Kaka, quickly joined in, hoping to impress and get a chance to play.

Jowen Xian immediately saw through their ambitions and glared, "Alright, you two will play in the away match against Fulham the day after tomorrow, but in this match... you two stay on the bench!"

Ramos and Kaka grumbled and found a corner to sit, sulking like children.

Lampard, who had been completely frozen out in the first half, was seething with anger and coldly said, "Boss, tell us what to do. In the second half, we must teach these guys a lesson!"

Jowen Xian nodded mysteriously, "Of course, to retaliate against Samson's huge insult to my character, I will take strong measures!"

Boas couldn't bear to listen any further, as he knew Jowen Xian's ruthless nature.

Under the intense gaze of dozens of eyes, Jowen Xian loudly said, "Petr Cech, get ready, you will come on as a substitute soon!"

Upon hearing this, Chelsea's second-choice goalkeeper, the Italian Cudicini, looked disappointed. Last season, he was the team's first-choice goalkeeper, but this season, the club signed the Czech Cech, who never gave him a chance to play in the league. He thought Jowen Xian would give him a chance in the League Cup and FA Cup, but now he only had half a game.

Being substituted in the middle of a match without injury is a very embarrassing situation for a goalkeeper.

Cech, who did not expect to come on, was initially stunned but then smiled, "Thank you, boss. I will do my best to keep a clean sheet!"

Jowen Xian frowned, "A clean sheet? Who asked you to do that?"

In the dressing room, the players and coaches looked at Jowen Xian in surprise, not understanding what he meant. Isn't a goalkeeper's job to keep a clean sheet?

---

Page break for ads

---

Page break for ads