Although training alone is boring, after a long time, Levi has become a little numb. He repeats some actions mechanically every day, but it doesn't feel as difficult as it was at the beginning.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that the physical coaches of the youth team tried their best to adjust his training methods. From the beginning, he only ran and exercised leg strength, and then added cycling. When his shoulders were fully recovered, he continued to

The rowing machine was also used.

Levi is a little worried. When he fully recovers, the coaches will still arrange squats, bench presses, etc. according to inertia, but forget about training with the ball.

This is of course unfounded worry.

In this kind of training life, life flies by.

In the penultimate round of the league, the Leeds United youth team welcomed Blackburn at home. At this stage, the relegation places and the division championship were already determined, and the two teams had no motivation to fight to the death. In addition, the three teams

The Queen is about to play the first leg of the FA Youth Cup final, and Eddie Gray chose to rotate half of the main players.

In the end, with Sinclair's goal, Leeds United tied with Blackburn 1-1 at home, and still maintained its third place in the standings.

Levi sat on the sidelines and watched the whole process, which reminded him a bit of the games at the beginning of the year.

At that time, Gray made him sit on the bench every game, but never let him play. Levi was also very angry about this, and had some unpleasantness with Gray. Later, he understood Gray's intention, but he also had to spend time off the court.

Pay attention to the situation on the court and don’t have a moment to spare.

It’s completely different now.

Levi squinted his eyes and looked at the sky. Although he is not yet the absolute main force in the team, he no longer needs to use this method to improve his ability to read the game.

After all, watching games and playing games are not the same difficulty at all. If playing in youth team games can improve him, then watching games must at least be at the Premier League level to benefit him.

Speaking of which, time really changes a lot. When he first came here, he felt that he was so far behind that even the U14 players could put him to shame.

But it's only been more than four months, and he seems to have turned a blind eye to youth team games.

Inflated, Levi shook his head secretly, and warned himself that there were many peers who were better than him on this court!

※※※※※※

During this period, Andy Gray did bring him some good news. Some Premier League and English League One teams contacted him and said they were interested in Levi.

However, the teams in the Premier League that have expressed interest are basically middle and lower-tier teams, and they only recruit players for the youth team. However, one English League One team has expressed that it can mention him to the first team.

It is naturally impossible for Levi to agree to these requests. After all, if he stays in England, he will not be able to obtain a labor certificate and cannot represent the first team at all. I don’t know if the English League One team has not thought about it at all or has forgotten about it.

Son.

But there are teams interested in him, which is always a recognition of him.

As for the transfer to Italy that was previously agreed upon with Andy, Andy planned to wait until the end of the season to contact some Serie A teams to try. However, Andy felt that Levi's appearances this season were still too few.

Although he performed well in his first appearance, it may not be enough to impress the Italians.

Levi thought the same way. He had only played a few games in the Leeds United youth team. Even if he could transfer, he probably wouldn't be a good team. So he didn't urge Andy. Instead, he said,

You can still wait, maybe next season too.

This actually made Andy sigh. He really met a good-tempered employer. I wonder if he compared Levi with his uncle.

※※※※※※

In such a peaceful life, time soon came to the third Saturday in May. On this day, the young players of Leeds United came to the Riverside Stadium to usher in the first leg of the FA Youth Cup final.

Competition.

The opponents in the final, Middlesbrough, may be in the best period in their club's history.

Although the Middlesbrough team with Juninho in the late 1990s may be more familiar to people, in fact, it was not until 2001 that the then club chairman Steve Gibson hired an assistant coach from Ferguson.

Steve McLaren, the two Steves joined forces to truly achieve the glory of Middlesbrough.

McLaren, who was later criticized by fans for his position in the England national team, was an out-and-out famous coach during the Middlesbrough era. He successively introduced Maccaroni, Mendieta, Zenden, Geremi and other players.

Juninho also returned from Atletico Madrid.

Under the leadership of McLaren, they finally won the English League Cup in 2004, the next year.

This is the first championship trophy won by this veteran team founded in 1876 in the nearly 130 years of club history, and it is also the only one so far.

Compared with the results of the adult team, the performance of the youth team was even better. In the original history, although they lost to Manchester United in this year's FA Youth Cup final, they made a comeback the next year, winning 4-0.

Defeat Aston Villa and win the crown.

No matter how you look at it, this is definitely an opponent that cannot be underestimated.

Eddie Gray certainly knows this.

So in the away game, he put on a defensive counterattack posture, especially arranging three midfielders, Edgar, Prowse, and Ward, in the midfield. The purpose was to limit Middlesbrough's arrowheads -

—Stuart Downing.

At that time, Downing was not the "Tang Ling" who later had zero goals and zero assists. At less than 19 years old, he was England's rising left star and was regarded as the best hope to solve the England national team's left wing problem.

Although this left-field problem has been mentioned repeatedly since Beckham entered the national team, until Beckham retired, no perfect solution was found.

But at least Tangning's performance in the youth team has completely lived up to people's expectations. At this time, he is comparable to Rooney.

Speaking of which, in the traditional British football world, Eddie Gray is indeed an anomaly. He will never stick to one style of play. He can attack with three forwards, but also dare to defend with three midfielders. It all depends on the opponent.

Weaknesses to formulate strategies.

Although this style of coach is rare, it is not the first time that it has appeared in the UK. If you are an older Leeds United fan, you will smile knowingly: Eddie, this guy, can be regarded as the true successor of his mentor!
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However, this time the three-midfielder tactic was not Eddie's original intention. Although Tangning is strong, it is not necessarily sharper than Manchester United's counterattack, and the defense cannot be compared with Manchester United.

You know, in real history, Manchester United relied on Richardson's sharp counterattack to defeat Middlesbrough 4-2 in two rounds.

Since Manchester United can be restrained, there is no reason why Middlesbrough cannot be restrained.

But Levi's injury changed Eddie's mind.

Edgar, Prowse, and Ward are not weaker than Levi. They are even far better than the latter in terms of experience, positional sense, prediction, and blocking. However, Levi's coverage is even greater than that of the three.

No one can compare to it.

With Levi around, Eddie dared to leave only two central midfielders in the midfield, and one of them could be the main attacker. But without Levi, facing the sharp knife of Tangning, Eddie could only choose the most conservative strategy.

"How did this guy become so important without realizing it?" Eddie, who was having a headache preparing for the finals, rubbed his temples with both hands and said to himself, "He can really bring surprises to people.

Ah!"

※※※※※※

In the first round of the final, Levi was still unable to play. According to Erwin's estimation, it would be difficult for him to catch up in the second round. However, he had become an important member of the team and still went to Milan with the team.

Delsburg.

On the bus, Levi looked out the window at the Tiz River, feeling a little lost.

"Lee, do you regret that save in the last game?" Carson, sitting next to him, asked curiously.

"No, Scott," Levi turned his head and waved his hand, "Why do you think so?"

"Because of this ball, you can't participate in the finals!"

"How could I think so much at that time," is what he said, but it is impossible to say that Levi does not have any regrets in his heart.

However, after repeatedly searching his heart, he knew that even if he had to do it again, he would still make that choice. So, why regret it?

Levi smiled, looked at Carson and said:

"Besides, if I didn't save that ball, we might not even be able to reach the finals. How can we discuss it here without regretting it?"

"That's not necessarily the case. As long as you can score the next goal, I won't be afraid of them in the penalty shootout!" Carson said with some disbelief.

Although Robinson in the first team made him despair, among his peers, he was still confident in his goalkeeping ability. In his understanding, penalty shootouts were a rare opportunity to shine.

Li Wei just smiled and didn't refute anything.

But he knew in his heart that the goal was largely because Shawcross underestimated his injured self, and it was hard to say whether he would have scored that goal if he had not been injured.

"By the way, Li, how is your injury? Can you make it to the second round?"

"It's probably a little difficult to hear what Mr. Erwin said." When talking about this topic, Levi could not help but feel a little lonely.

"It's okay, Lee," Carson patted Levi on the shoulder, "We will win this championship for you. Do you remember the bet we made?"

"Of course I remember," Levi smiled, "You are going to be a man from the British family!"

"Yeah," Carson punched, "So how could I fall in front of the little FA Youth Cup!"

Then, Carson put his two hands on Levi's shoulders and said matter-of-factly: "Now, I, Scott Carson, solemnly promise that before you, Levi, return to the field, you will not miss the goal."

!"

Poof - Levi almost spit out the water he just drank.

Are you kidding me? How can any goalkeeper promise such a thing? Sometimes the ball conceded cannot be blocked by human power. For example, if the opponent hits an empty goal, can it be saved?

Upon hearing this, Levi's first reaction was that Carson was joking, or else he was just being motivated.

But when he raised his head to face Carson's gaze, he suddenly realized that he was wrong.

There seems to be something different in his good friend's eyes.
To be continued...