[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca":3,"chapter-emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-chapter-277":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Emperor of Football: Julien De Rocca",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1556214,2020,"Chapter 277: Chapter-277 Chance","emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-chapter-277",277,"\u003Cp>After conceding, Baup furrowed his brow. This kind of opening completely disrupted his deployment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought Bastia would play defensive counter-attack. Instead, Bastia attacked from the start!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now with Bastia leading, Baup could already imagine Marseille facing Bastia's iron defense. He couldn't help but have a headache.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An iron defense was what he feared most!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This season, Marseille's attack wasn't strong. Including this match, in fourteen league rounds, the whole team had only scored sixteen goals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among all Ligue 1 teams, they couldn't even rank in the top ten. Most of the time, they relied on 1-0 victories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even their entire team couldn't match the goals scored by Julien alone!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After scoring this goal, Julien was now far ahead in the Ligue 1 top scorer list, having played 12 matches and scored 18 goals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An average of 1.5 goals per game.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thinking about this, Baup had another headache.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure enough!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the match restarted and Marseille organized their attack, Bastia pulled everyone back. Lukaku, Julien, and Mané had all retreated to their own half.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They just wouldn't give Marseille space, making them pass slowly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marseille's midfield core was Julien's national team teammate, Valbuena.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Hadzibegic was formulating tactics, he specifically asked Julien.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julien also gave his opinion: Valbuena wasn't stable enough, especially under high-intensity pressure, with weak passing ability.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the match against Spain, Valbuena had no impact at all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Completely locked down by Spain's midfield.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In this match, he also faced the harassment of French national team teammate Kanté.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kanté's task in this match was to lock down Valbuena.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Much of Marseille's attack came from Valbuena.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was precisely because of his performances at Marseille that he had the opportunity to enter the French national team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for Marseille's front line with the Ayew brothers: André Ayew and Jordan Ayew, their independent attacking ability was rather weak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In less than ten minutes, Marseille fans could already see the current situation: Marseille couldn't break through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bastia even got a counter-attack. Lukaku received a long pass and made a fierce run.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he hadn't pushed the ball too far ahead, and goalkeeper Mandanda hadn't decisively rushed out to grab it first, this might have been another good attacking opportunity for Bastia.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mandanda, as Marseille's captain, after grabbing the ball, roared at his teammates, telling them to pay attention to defense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that the attack was stalled, defense should be even more vigilant!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mandanda threw the ball to defender N'Koulou. Marseille began organizing their attack again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this time, the broadcast camera once again found Deschamps in the stands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Just when Julien scored, the camera had found Deschamps with a big smile on his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because of that smile, Marseille fans even created a thread on the forum: \"Why was Deschamps so happy seeing Marseille concede?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Extreme fans naturally had mostly insults.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But there were also rational fans: \"Deschamps was just pleased seeing Julien's performance. As both a player and coach, Deschamps' contributions to Marseille were great enough—he won championships.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There's nothing to criticize about that. Now Deschamps coaches the national team, and Julien is the core of the French national team. With such a performance, it's normal for Deschamps, as head coach, to be happy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But how could extreme fans be rational?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two groups went back and forth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside Deschamps, this time it wasn't Zidane, but Stéphane.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stéphane asked with interest, \"Didier, do you think Marseille can still turn this around?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deschamps shook his head slightly. \"It's difficult. Bastia's previous three-game losing streak was due to defensive problems, but after resting in the last round, with no obvious injuries, it will be very hard for Marseille to score.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deschamps knew very well how resilient a team's defensive line could be after experiencing multiple baptisms by strong teams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, he understood defense too well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Defensive experience was defended into existence!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was practiced through mistakes, through being exploited time and time again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, Bastia's current defensive line, though none of the players were famous, was actually at the peak of their careers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Stéphane agreed with this view. He added, \"That little guy, I think we can give him more opportunities. Kanté—he's defending Valbuena without mercy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Deschamps smiled. \"Indeed.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kanté was one of his important discoveries. Deschamps had already decided to focus on cultivating Kanté. This type of player was exactly what the French team desperately needed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The current French team lacked proper defensive midfielders!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kanté was the one Deschamps had in mind to nurture.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two chatted while continuing to watch the match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The game entered a stalemate, with neither side able to do anything to the other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Bastia's counter-attacks still looked more threatening!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the 28th minute, after several failed counter-attacks, this Bastia counter-attack was very fierce.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps because the smoke had cleared and visibility was good, De Bruyne sent a long pass, and the ball reached Lukaku's feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lukaku, once again as the spearhead, charged forward. This time when he had possession, he learned his lesson.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Julien coming up on the right, he made a lateral pass.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ball reached Julien's feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Abdallah and Morel quickly converged, blocking Julien's advancing route.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this situation, Julien didn't force a breakthrough, which would slow the tempo.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He passed the ball back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>De Bruyne, who had pushed forward, received the ball. Barton, who was defending him, hadn't yet gotten into position.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>De Bruyne had time to adjust.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing Marseille's defense was somewhat chaotic and their overall defensive focus leaned toward the right side—\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>BOOM!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He made a decisive pass to the left to Mané's feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Facing only Marseille right-back Fanni's defense, Mané didn't use any fancy footwork—just a feint with a pull-back, then a through ball with explosive speed!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He ate Fanni alive with pure pace!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fanni was fooled by the feint and couldn't keep up with the follow-through. Mané charged forward like a whirlwind; he was extremely fast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His tactical position in the team wasn't high. More often, he was used as a quality wingman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mané understood his role.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, when he charged near the penalty area to a wide-open space, he didn't cut inside toward the middle.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, he chose to send a high cross to the middle, looking for Lukaku.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But his pass was slightly too strong. Lukaku, jumping with the defender, couldn't reach the ball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It flew directly toward the far post on the right.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Julien couldn't receive the ball well—he had already run past it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a poor cross. But behind every poor cross was a potential spectacular bicycle kick.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julien sensed something. Leaning against Morel's defense, he threw himself into the air!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>________________________________________________________\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Check out my patreon where you can read more chapters:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>patreon.com\u002FLorianFiction\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks for your support!\u003C\u002Fp>",1117,"2026-06-06T07:35:06.182Z",1,"novelbin.me","80e27c237dfe880a7642a2a133aa263b8b58cf143d0648ed5d5c470884bdcae2","emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-chapter-278","emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-chapter-276",628,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Femperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-cover.jpg"]