Chapter 293 The Last Puzzle

While Ross was still negotiating with Perrybring, Tiger had resumed training at the training base in Valencia. He had been in the United States for the past half month and had not conducted systematic training. This also made him not perform very well on the training ground, and also disappointed Cooper, who was expecting Tiger to have a good rest.

However, Tiger himself didn't care too much. He knew that he was not physically ill. His previous sluggish performance was affected by his mood. After the winter break on vacation, Tiger's mood has improved a lot, at least it will not affect his performance again because of his mood.

Cooper was not aware of this. After hesitating for a while, he decided to let Tiger rest for a while. So in the game between Valencia and Santander on January 7, Tiger sat on the bench, and partnered with Karu and Angulo on the front line.

"Tiger is on the bench... It seems that his behavior of running to the United States to participate in the Oscars during the winter break made Cooper very dissatisfied... Except for the suspension and injury or the competition was really not important, Tiger has always been Valencia's absolute main force, but this time he sat on the bench. Thinking of Valencia's three consecutive draws before, does it prove that Cooper is already dissatisfied with Tiger?"

The commentator of Spanish TV station speculated that Valencia fans who could not go to watch the game on site began to boo the commentator - do you have a brain? Tiger is our Valencia number one star! Occasionally, he didn't perform well and sat on the bench once, and what coach would you start to touch with Tiger? What kind of love is that!

However, there are also many Valencia fans muttering in their hearts - Tiger performed so well in Valencia before, but still failed to win the World Footballer. Obviously, this incident has hit Tiger a lot. So will he think it is because he is not in a wealthy family? Compared with those real wealthy families, Valencia's stage seems to be a little small...

Tiger, who was sitting on the bench, had no more thoughts. He just sat quietly on the bench - he knew that Cooper didn't let him play because he thought he was not resting well enough. Although he didn't think that this physical gap would make him perform poorly on the court, after all, his performance in the previous three games was not very good, and it was also worth sitting on the bench.

Although losing to Zidane for not winning the World Footballer made Tiger feel very bad, he did not think of leaving Valencia as others thought. At least, although Valencia had won the Champions League, he had not won the league championship yet. When he was unwilling to leave Valencia, he was a loser. Even if he wanted to leave Valencia, he had to win everything before leaving!

What worries Valencia's fans is that Valencia doesn't play well when Tiger doesn't play. It's obvious that because Valencia's players who have been resting too relaxed during the winter break are not the only one. Facing the second-last Santander Athletics team, Valencia has a hard time playing up and down and can never tear open the opponent's dense defense line.

After the first half ended with zero to zero, Cooper thought about it and replaced Angulo with Tiger to strengthen the attack. When Tiger came on the court, huge cheers immediately sounded in the court!

This is Valencia's expectation for Tiger, who has shown his top-notch level in Valencia over the past season! It all exploded in this moment!

Maybe it was luck, maybe it was Tiger carrying some magic. In short, as soon as Tiger came on the court, Valencia, who could not defeat the first half, immediately scored a goal!

This goal has little to do with Tiger. He just passed the ball to Medita after receiving the ball in the middle, and then Medita divided the ball. Killy was broken by the opponent from the bottom and got a corner kick. Medita took the corner kick, and Karu headed the ball at the back point...

Tiger hugged his teammates with some amusedness, then stood on tiptoe and patted Karu on the head to express comfort - because Karu scored a goal, Tiger's name was shouted in the stands...

"Lucky Tiger! Lucky Tiger! Lucky Tiger!"

But soon, Tiger let everyone know why he was welcomed by so many people - shortly after this goal, Tiger received a pass from Aimal 30 meters away from the goal. Seeing that the opponent's defenders were huddling near the penalty area and did not force them up. After taking a step forward, he decisively took a long shot!

The ball flew over everyone's heads in the penalty area, then flew past the goalkeeper's hand and flew directly into the goal!

"World Wave! Tiger did not show his skills, but showed his strength! This long shot was so exciting! After three silent games, after the winter break, Tiger began to reveal his sharp minions again!"

Tiger spread his arms and rushed to the sidelines, then waved his fist hard and let out a loud roar!

After a period of rest and the vent of this goal, Tiger has already put down his psychological burden of losing the World Football Master's previous selection.

Isn’t there no competition this year? I performed better, and see if the footballer in this world still belongs to me!

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With the help of two goals from Karu and Tiger in the second half, Valencia defeated Athletic Santander and won the first victory in three rounds of the league, one less game, and ranked second with five points behind Real Madrid, stopping the decline.

A week later, Valencia ushered in a focus battle. They ranked third in La Coruna before the away challenge - La Liga last four have basically formed. The top three teams, along with Barcelona, ​​ranked fourth, have become the most powerful contender for the league championship this season.

They challenged last season's defending champion away, and Valencia also suffered a Waterloo on this court last season. Although La Coruña's performance since the beginning of this season has not been particularly outstanding, they are now ranked third and their strength cannot be underestimated.

This game is seen as a contest between Tiger and Dejaminha. After helping La Coruna win the first Spanish League championship trophy in club history with outstanding performance last season, Dejaminha's reputation has reached its peak. Although the Brazilian genius still has a weird temper, and when head coach Iruetta jokingly warned him: "If you keep the red card within three cards in a season, you can get the World Footballer." Dejaminha replied: "Fuck the Footballer," - but no one can deny his talent and ability.

Compared with Dejamingha, Tiger seems to be a little persistent in winning the honor of World Football Master. However, from another perspective, can't it be said that Dejamingha is too unmotivated compared with Tiger?

In short, the second and third matches in the league have already attracted a lot of highlights, and the matches between two star players will be a bigger highlight...

However, this game, which would have been very exciting, became much more disgraceful due to an accident.

In the first half, both sides were evenly matched on the court. La Coruna had a forward group that Valencia envied. Tristan, Makai, and Pandiani were all excellent strikers with excellent impact speed and skills. Valencia had a solid defense line that La Coruna could not match. La Coruna, who was at home, had an advantage in the attack strategy, but they had to worry about Valencia's counterattack led by Tiger.

Brazilian midfielder Mauro Silva is the main force in La Coruña's defense against Tiger. His running and close defense have caused a lot of trouble for Tiger, but Tiger still creates a lot of opportunities, so although the scene is a bit passive, Cooper is not worried that the team will suffer a defeat.

However, after the second half, the situation suddenly changed. In this game, Zahovic, who was partnering with Tiger, was too big in a fight and was shown a yellow card. He seemed very dissatisfied with this and started to trouble the referee with a curse. When Mendita saw that the situation was not good and was about to stop him, the referee, who had been annoyed by Zahovic, immediately showed the second yellow card to Zahovic and sent Zahovic off the game!

Valencia, who was one less, immediately began to be passively beaten on the court. No matter what, Zahovic's involvement, breakthrough and impact in the frontcourt could effectively support Tiger's attack. Now, after he was in the game, he relied on Tiger alone to top Valencia, who was leading the front, and began to get more offensive opportunities by La Coruña...

After continuous attacks, Pandiani finally received a cross from Makai's cross and header to the team's first record, but then it became Tiger's performance time.

"This is a player who can always burst out suddenly when the team is at a disadvantage - for other players, occasional explosions are not uncommon, but for Tiger, this kind of explosion has become the norm." Some media commented after the game.

Although La Coruña's only three midfielders gave Tiger too much room for activity, and their defense also had many loopholes to exploit, Tiger's active retreat allowed Valencia to control the midfield with one less and began to launch a continuous attack, which immediately made Tiger's performance overwhelmed the opponent's Brazilian midfielder Dejaminha throughout the game!

Under his instigation and dispatch, Valencia began to slowly control the midfield and began to launch wave after wave of attacks. After Cooper replaced Kili with Vicente and Villa replaced Caboni, Valencia's attack changed the slower advancement method before, but began to continuously attack La Coruna's defense from all directions!

Tiger, Mendeta and Balaha were in the midfield, with three defenders behind him, and three young players, Aimal, Vicente and Villa, were running and rushing in the frontcourt without any effort. This tactic is very simple. However, with Tiger's dispatch and the efforts of the three young players, La Coruna's defense line was lost and the team was in chaos!

Five minutes after La Coruña scored a goal, Tiger made an accurate long pass from the top in the midfield. Vicente, who was in a high speed, relied on speed to get rid of the opponent's defender and then broke into the penalty area. Then he made a cross from the middle. Villa keenly grabbed the ball in front of the opponent's defender. La Coruña goalkeeper Molina failed to react, and Valencia equalized the score!

Ten minutes later, Aimal made a quick pass from the front of the penalty area. Villa's shot was saved after the forward shot. Tiger was quick-eyed and his feet were quick, and he immediately shot into the net!

If La Coruna's Dutch scorer Ma Kai scored a world wave in the corner of the penalty area to equalize the score, La Coruna would have humiliated the bitter fruit of one more person at home but lost!

Although the draw in this game left Valencia seven points away by Real Madrid, there is no doubt that it was a league that made Valencia extremely excited. In such a difficult environment, snatching a point at the home court of the devil Riaso Stadium, which is worth a lot of La Liga, was enough to fully play Valencia's form!

The draw in this game gave Valencia a fantastic day.

On January 21, Valencia faces Barcelona at home.

Barcelona once had a poor performance after leaving Figo this season. Orvemas and Petit, who were introduced at high prices, have not been able to show their strength. However, under the leadership of Rivaldo, their performance has gradually improved. Now, they are ranked fourth, naturally do not want to miss this opportunity to narrow the gap with the previous score.

However, Mestalia and others swallowed the bitter fruit of defeat. The Valencia midfielder led by Tiger completely gained the upper hand. Although Rivaldo, Petit, Ovemas, Luis Enrique, Guardiola and others were not as famous as Valencia's midfielders at all, Valencia had the upper hand in cooperation.

Tiger scored three consecutive games, which was a wonderful shot at the front of the penalty area. Valencia defeated Barcelona 2-1 at home, and Real Madrid was unexpectedly tied by Valladolid 2-2 away. Valencia is still ranked second, one less game behind Real Madrid five points - after facing Barcelona and La Coruna in a row, Valencia is still not left behind by Real Madrid with a score difference, which is a huge victory in itself!

In the make-up game three days later, Tiger stopped scoring consecutive goals, but he still played a huge role on the court. Valencia, who completely had the advantage on the court, defeated Ovito with two goals from goal by Todieta and Vicente, narrowing the gap behind Real Madrid to two points.

The league just passed halfway through. Real Madrid scored 42 points, Valencia scored 40 points, Coruña scored 37 points, Barcelona scored 35 points, and the four-*** chess situation has gradually formed. The dark horse of this season is Mallorca. They are now ranked fifth and have reached 31 points, making them the team that is most likely to have an impact on the top four.

In the 20th round of the league, Valencia defeated Alaves 3-1 at home, and then they encountered Mallorca. Because three days later, it was the away game to challenge Manchester United in the Champions League, Cooper retained some of his strength in the game of Mallorca. In the end, they tied with Mallorca 2-2 away. Real Madrid won two consecutive victories in one go. Real Madrid, which has already won two consecutive victories in the group stage, is not as stressful as Valencia, although they are in the same group as Leeds United and Lazio. After these two rounds, Real Madrid once again led Valencia by four points and expanded its leading advantage.

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"The biggest opponent in our league is basically Real Madrid."

Looking at the standings at hand, Cooper sighed. Valencia's game mission this season is much heavier than last season. He must try his best to strive for the league. After being a coach for so many years, from South America to Europe, he has not won a real league championship, but he has won a lot of cup championships. Of course, he also has a huge desire for league championships. However, after buying Figo, Real Madrid led by Bosque is extremely stable in the league, with a very high score rate and rarely makes mistakes. It is not easy for Cooper to win the league championship.

Valencia's biggest problem now is that she does not have a stable scoring point. She relies too much on Tiger, which is especially true since the beginning of this season. Tiger is in good shape and Valencia can win. If Tiger loses a chain, even if Valencia has the advantage on the field, it seems that it will be difficult for him to score a goal...

Cooper smiled bitterly. Fortunately, Tiger rarely loses his chain. Unfortunately, if a team's offense is always placed on a player, then no matter how glorious the team appears for a period of time, their foundation is very fragile - the foundation maintained on a person will definitely be very fragile!

"It seems that we should find another second scoring point...at least it must be a fixed scoring point, the forward line cannot be exchanged again."

Cooper looked at the training ground below the office building through the floor-to-ceiling window. The players were training on the court. They had good results recently and were in a good mood. The players' shouts echoed on the court.

He looked down at the list of players at hand. After the initial test, Tiger had been fixed in the second striker again. He could also retreat to the organization at this position. When he retreated, Aimal headed up and Mundeta went to the right. What he was looking for now is a striker who could pose a threat to the opponent's goal regardless of whether Tiger retraces or not and could seize the chance to score.

He has many forwards on hand, but not many have to choose from.

Zahovic has been given up by him. Although this guy can score many goals sometimes, his goals are basically explosive and cannot be smooth. Sanchez is often injured this season and his attendance rate cannot be guaranteed. Karu and Angulo are more tactical strikers. After thinking about it, it seems that only Villa, who is young, has shown good scoring talent...

After this period of use, Cooper has observed that Villa, the striker, has average physical fitness and not particularly fast speed. However, he has his own set in running position. He has no sticky ball under his feet and has a decisive and accurate shooting. His characteristics are quite consistent with Valencia today.

He looked up at the training ground again. Cooper happened to see Tiger making a pass in the middle. Villa first ran horizontally, and then suddenly stepped forward while Tiger passed the ball. He happened to receive Tiger's pass. Before the ball landed, he decisively volleyed and shot directly. He also hit a far corner. The ball flew past Palop's hand that was stretched out and then circled into the far corner.

"Cum pretty, David!"

Recently, Villa has won consecutive starts, and the nineteen-year-old striker has also seized the opportunity to start, scoring three goals in five games, showing an excellent state - it is precisely because of his achievements that more and more teammates cheering him on the training ground.

Looking at this scene from afar, Cooper nodded secretly and finally made up his mind.

The last puzzle of the stable formation has been formed in Cooper's mind.
Chapter completed!