After the game against Ajaccio, Metz played four more league games in January, and Chu Zhongtian started every game, all of which played for 90 minutes.

On January 15th, the 21st round of the league was tied at Nice 1:1 away.

On January 22, the 22nd round of the league was tied at home by 1:1.

On January 26, the 23rd round of the league was lost to Sochaux 1:2 away.

On January 29th, the 24th round of the league, the rennes tied 1:1 at home.

In January, Metz did not win a single victory except for Ajaccio.

The team's performance in January cannot be said to be good, and Chu Zhongtian's performance in January was also good and bad. When he performed well, Chu Zhongtian felt that he could control the game. When he performed poorly, he helped the team very little offense. But even if he performed poorly, he was never allowed by the head coach. Fernandez had replaced him in advance. Fernandez knew that Chu Zhongtian's problem was that he played less at high-level games, so no matter how Chu Zhongtian performed, he was full of 90 minutes of each game and injury time.

Chinese media mixed their praises and criticisms about his performance in January, and some people are optimistic about others.

The optimistic people believe that Chu Zhongtian has gained more opportunities to play, which will help improve his abilities. The disadvantaged people believe that this is just a stopgap solution for coach Fernandez when Leka is injured. When Leka returns from injury, Chu Zhongtian will lose his starting position.

It seems that what everyone said makes sense. Even the website "We all love Lindanda" is divided into two factions. One faction firmly supports Chu Zhongtian, believing that he will have a bright future, and the other faction thinks that if Chu Zhongtian develops according to this momentum, it will be difficult to say what the future will be.

These domestic debates do not affect Chu Zhongtian at all. He still focuses on training and competitions, and then analyzes his performance in the game with Coach Tadio after each game. Coach Tadio will point out the side of his performance in each game, and then make a table of his performance in each game, including passing, ball control, defense, number of attacks, participating in offenses, chances of participating in offenses in the constant stages of the game... and so on, so on, let his points, shortcomings and progress be clear at a glance. From the table, he can clearly know where he has made certain progress, and where he has stabilized his performance, and which aspects are still ups and downs... Scientific training methods, positive and serious training attitude, Chu Zhongtian can feel his own progress in every game, even when he performs poorly.

As time goes into February, according to the previous plan, Leka will be able to resume training and competitions when February passes. Chu Zhongtian will face the competition from Leka with more experienced Leka. He does not think that Fernandez is optimistic about him, so he will always favor himself. If he does not show his due level, then Fernandez will also change his view of himself. Therefore, if he wants to occupy a favorable position in the next competition, February's performance is crucial, but Metz's opponents are very strong in February... Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, and Ausserre are their opponents in February. All the most competitive teams in Ligue 1 are on the court and have a wheel battle with Metz.

Originally, in Fernandez's plan, he did not plan to get the twelve points in these four games, but because his performance in January was too poor, he had to work hard in every game in these four games, otherwise, if February passes, Metz may slip into the relegation zone.

Metz local media and fans are also concerned about the team's future.

The Lorraine Republic analyzed that Metz is likely to lose all in the game in February, "The situation will force people to a dead end and make it difficult for Fernandez's team to relegate, which is a big suspense."

Metz's fans left messages on Metz's official website forum, most of them believed that if Metz wants to succeed in relegation, Frank Ribery is the key figure. What makes them very happy is that Ribery did not leave the team during this winter transfer period. The media reported that many clubs were recruiting him, but his agents denied it. At first, fans thought this was just a trick that the agents used - first deny to calm the anger of the fans, and at the same time quietly contacted other teams. When everyone knew the truth, the players had already transferred and left. Just like when Adebayo transferred to Monaco, the club president used to deny that he would sell the only star of the team. What's the result now? Adebayo had already scored a goal against Metz on behalf of Monaco.

Fortunately, Ribery really stayed at Metz in the end and didn't go anywhere, which reassured the fans and believed that the team's hope of relegation this season increased significantly.

Merry also took this opportunity to negotiate with the club to modify the contract for Ribery and increase his salary from 6,300 euros per month to 10,000 euros. For Ribery, this income can make him and Wahiba live well in a small city like Metz.

The salary increase has nothing to do with Chu Zhongtian. He had almost no performance in the first half of the season, and he had to raise the salary and was talking to Chelsea. Chelsea is not available to talk about this kind of thing now with a young player who is on loan. They are under Mourinho's leadership to attack the first English top league championship trophy in 50 years, which looks very promising.

※※※ "Our opponent in the next round is actually Lyon. This is really an opponent that makes people feel discouraged when they think about it..." After the training, everyone returned to the locker room, took a shower and changed their clothes, and chatted casually. Someone talked about their opponent in the next game.

"Yeah, they're too strong. How many seasons have they monopolized the league championship in a row? Three or four?"

"They were champions for three consecutive seasons, and this kind of league really makes me desperate."

"I think it's good if we can lose a fewer goals, so we'd better concentrate on playing well... Play the league in March. I've seen the schedule. Our opponents were weak in March - I mean they were weaker compared to those in February..."

"That Brazilian's free kick is very good, we should give them less chances of setting balls in the game."

"But in that case, wouldn't we have to let them break through and pass the ball in front of us?

"Oh-this is really hard to deal with!"

Everyone gathered together and expressed their fear of Lyon, the Ligue 1 overlord.

Chu Zhongtian is not interested in such a topic. He has not yet taken the habit of surrendering to his opponents. However, he cannot accuse his teammates of such remarks, because in the locker room, he is neither the captain, nor the core player, nor the leader.

In order to express his dissatisfaction, he could only remain silent.

Take off your clothes silently, take a shower silently, and wear clothes silently.

It was not until Ribery patted his shoulder that he ended his silent film-like state.

"You have something to worry about, Chu?"

"No." Chu Zhongtian shook his head.

"I heard from Mr. Merry that your French teacher hasn't taught you again, what happened to you?"

Chu Zhongtian shook his head: "It has nothing to do with her. Nothing happened, but the class was over, so there was naturally no need to continue."

"Isn't it really okay?" Ribery smiled ambiguously.

"Why are you so gossiping, Frank?" Chu Zhongtian rolled his eyes.

"Hehe... OK, then why are you so depressed?"

Chu Zhongtian secretly pointed to Lyon's teammates in the bathroom while taking a shower: "I don't like this attitude. The stronger the opponent, the more excited you should be. Why didn't you play in the game? You were depressed in advance?"

Ribery glanced at the bathroom, and there was a sound of chatting amid the sound of water.

"No matter who are the first-line players, I think there are two children in their youth team who are also very good. I once fought with them when I was in the youth team... Although I don't want to admit it, they are indeed much better than me."

"You are talking about Hatm Ben Alpha and Karim Benzema?"

"That's right, it's just that they are not old, but they are very talented..."

Ribery was not interested in continuing to listen. He turned around and smiled at Chu Zhongtian: "It's okay, I'll stand on your side. Because I don't want to lose."

He stretched out his hand to Chu Zhongtian, "I know Lyon is very strong, and the probability of us defeating them is very small. But I want to try it, even if it is only the two of us."

Chu Zhongtian and him had a high-five. Their two had the same idea and were really the best friends in the team.

"Let's create a little trouble for Lyon together." Ribery laughed.

※※ On February 5, Metz will challenge Ligue 1's overlord Lyon away.

This is the third strong team that Chu Zhongtian encountered after the match against Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain, and even the strongest team in Ligue 1, and his strength is better than Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain. For him, this is a very important game.

But for most people, this game is insignificant and not worth caring about. Because Metz cannot shake the French Ligue 1 overlord Lyon. Metz's goal in this game is to lose less and win. What is the value of one-sided game attention? The game that can attract a lot of attention must be a match that is evenly matched and strong dialogues.

The team took a bus from Metz to Lyon. Metz is a small city with no airport and the team didn't have to fly to Lyon. It was too luxurious and unnecessary. France is so big, and it only takes a few hours to take the expressway by car.

I couldn't hear my teammates discussing Lyon in the car. Maybe I didn't have any hope for this game.

However, Ribery and Chu Zhongtian were sitting in the back seat of the car, chatting their heads and muttering in a low voice.

They are studying the opponents of this game.

Lyon has announced their starting list in advance, which is different from Fernandez who has been holding on. Lyon's actions reflect their domineering and arrogance as the Ligue 1 champion for three consecutive seasons - we are not afraid of your research. Even though we come, there are only eleven starting players, you can adjust your strategy at will, and we will still beat you in the end.

Lyon's starting lineup in this game is goalkeeper Grégory_coupet, France's No. 2 national goal, but its strength is not inferior to Badz. Badz's butterfly player can always be the main goalkeeper of France, which is related to his good relationship with the national team leader Zidane.

The right back is Anthony Reveillere, a white right back. He is the main player in Lyon, but his future in the national team is not very bright. So far, he has only participated in an international game for the French team, and he is already twenty-five years old. He has not had a good defensive ability, good offensive ability, has good explosive power, likes to dribble the ball and insert it into the opponent's half at high speed, and has a good cross.

The left back is Eric Abidal, one of the top defenders in the Ligue 1 league. He only transferred to join Lyon last summer and quickly became the main left back of the Ligue 1 overlord. His explosiveness, speed and endurance are outstanding, his defense is excellent, and he can also assist.

The central defender is a match between a Brazilian and a Ghanaian.

Chris only transferred to Lyon this season. Originally, Lyon's club chairman Olas just wanted to find a replacement for Brazilian central defender Ed Milson who transferred to Barcelona. Unexpectedly, after Chris came to the team, he quickly conquered headers with his actual performance, and now he has become Lyon's defensive core. His characteristics are accurate defensive position selection, outstanding headers, good physical fitness, and being a Brazilian central defender. At some point, active attacks can always help the team.

Chris' partner in the centre-back is Ghanaian Michael_essien, but Ghanaian is a temporary cameo in this game because the team's main central defender Cacapa was injured and could not play in this game. Essien, who had played left and right full-backs and center backs in Bastia before, was naturally up. Essien is a versatile midfielder with excellent physical fitness.

"This Essin is a bit similar to you, Chu." Ribery introduced that because he had fought with Essin in the first half of the season. At that time, Ribery was criticized by the media for only being able to dribble the ball, regardless of the team's tactical cooperation. He made many breakthroughs in that game and was blocked by Essin. He was completely at a disadvantage in physical confrontation and had almost no power to fight back. He played very badly in that game. If he had been an ordinary head coach, he would have pressed him firmly on the bench after the game and would never have turned over.

"He is very strong and has good physical fitness. Have you ever fought with Kana? But I want to say that in terms of physical fitness alone, Kana is far inferior to Essin." Ribery recalled the situation when he fought with Essin, while gesturing at Chu Zhongtian. "He is a black man, and black man has the physical fitness that we whites envy. Speed, explosiveness, strength, physical strength, flexibility... are all very good, and there are almost no shortcomings in the body."

This was the first time Chu Zhongtian heard Ribery praise him like this, especially his opponent. He was more interested in this person named "Esing".

"And he is a bit similar to your current position. Although he is a midfielder, he is both offensive and defensive on the court. Fortunately, he is a central defender in this game, otherwise you have to be careful, Chu. Tell me that his steals are completely comparable to yours. If he gets close to you, you have to quickly get the ball and don't be forced to death by him."

Chu Zhongtian nodded.

Lyon's starting midfielder in this game was Mahamadou Diarra. He is also a black man, and the midfielder from Mali has always been the main player of Lyon. Although his physical fitness is slightly inferior to Essin, he is also very outstanding. He is a full-time midfielder who defends his position and does not have much threat in offense. He and Essin are called Lyon's "midfield double evil spirits". With them in Lyon, they are almost invincible Lyon. Lyon's ability to defend the Ligue 1 championship in succession has a lot to do with their possession of Essin and Diarra's two "beast waists".

"Your opponent is him." Ribery poked Mahamadu Diyala's name. "He has a strong defensive ability, you have to be careful."

Chu Zhongtianxin thought that the French League One was really good at making a "good waist"... Kana, Essin, and Diyala, these are all midfielders with strong strength, and there must be many such outstanding players in other teams.

The person who partnered with Diarra in the middle is Lyon's captain, the well-deserved core, Juninho, one of the world's top free kick masters, is not an exaggeration to say that he is the top one. At least in Ligue 1, no one can play a better free kick than him. Not only does he play a good free kick, but his passing in the midfield is the number one reason why Lyon can dominate Ligue 1 forever. His skills are not necessarily better than Ronaldinho, but he is still the top in Ligue 1.

"Our vice captain Promón should be guarding him." Ribery said this and looked up at Gregori, who was sitting outside the three rows in the front. Promón, then he lowered his voice and leaned against Chu Zhongtian's ear and said, "But to be honest, I personally think Promón cannot defend against Juninho. In that match last season in the league, Promón was tortured by Juninho's pass... Even I sympathized with him. To be honest, I hope you can try it, but you have to be responsible for organizing the offense and cannot be bothered. If you have the chance, assist Promón in defense. But be careful not to foul in dangerous places... And the dangerous area I am talking about does not refer to the front of the penalty area. The entire 30-meter area is a dangerous area for his free kick."

You can't foul, but you have to do your best to prevent him. Chu Zhongtian felt that this was really difficult. But... it is because it is more challenging and fun. Who is interested in doing easy things?

Lyon's two wings are govou and malouda. Govu is a player of the French national team. Although he is only twenty-four years old, he is considered to have a promising future. He is a fast assaulter like Maluda.

French local striker Pierre-alain_frau and Brazilian scorer Nilmar are the starting strikers in this game. Frou is also the coach of Metz Jean Fernandez personally trained when he was at Socio. Last season, he played for Socio for 36 games in the league and scored 17 goals, which is his best result since playing for Socio's first team, and he also transferred to Ligue 1 overlord Lyon.

Nealma is a Brazilian striker who is only 20 years old. His biggest feature is fast speed and strong explosiveness. Originally, Lyon's main striker should have been Elber, who once played for Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, but Elber was injured in this game and did not even make the roster.

As for Benzema and Ben Alfa, who are considered by the media to be the hope for the future of French football, they are not on the starting list, and they may come on as a substitute.

In an environment like Ligue 1, Lyon's starting list is star-stunning, and you can blur your eyes by just looking at it.

In addition to Kakapa and Elber, who were unable to play due to injury, Lyon's head coach Legon made all the main players. Obviously, he did not want to give any chance to opponents like Metz at his home court.

"If we only look at the opponent's starting list, our game is really hard to play. I understand what my teammates think..." Ribery shrugged. "But what does it mean if the opponent is not strong?"

He laughed at Chu Zhongtian. "Fortunately, Lyon did not send some substitutes to fool us. If they dare to underestimate us, we will give them some excellence!"

"That's right." Chu Zhongtian clenched his fists. He thought of the game against Chelsea. Didn't such a powerful opponent still be overturned by Wimbledon? As long as you dare to underestimate us, you will suffer!

※※ After Metz arrived at Lyon a day in advance, they checked in the hotel they had booked together, rested for one night, and then went to train to adapt to the venue the next morning, come back for lunch, take a break in the afternoon and set off to the stadium to prepare for the five-pm game.

When adapting to the venue, Fernandez participated in the pre-match press conference. At the press conference, he talked about Lyon, and naturally praised the team that won three consecutive championships, and said that it would be very good to be able to take a point from Gerland.

No one thinks that Fernandez is releasing smoke bombs. With Metz's strength, being able to defeat Lyon away is a fantasy. It is worth celebrating to be able to take away a point.

Lyon's reporters knew that Fernandez was a coach with a very accurate view of people, so they asked him to evaluate Lyon's future double stars Benzema and Ben Alpha.

Fernandez would not say too much bad things about the two young Lyon players in front of the Lyon media, and he praised Benzema and Ben Alpha's potential, believing that they will have a bright future.

After this interview, Lyon media was very happy and also complimented Mets' Ribery, calling him a promising player. It was a very smart way for Mets to stay Ribery during the winter transfer period, because Mets' hope of relegation first is all about this "scarface".

Ribery disdained the praises from the local media in Lyon. He said to Chu Zhongtian: "If they praise you, it means that you are not a threat to them at all. Chu, you must do the kind of players who will make your opponents belittle you, criticize you, or even scold you wherever you go. Only in that way will show that you can pose a threat to them because they are afraid of you!"
Chapter completed!