[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-start-with-r9-template":3,"chapter-start-with-r9-template-start-with-r9-template-chapter-72":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Start with R9 Template",{"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},1388887,1840,"Chapter 72 - 72","start-with-r9-template-chapter-72",72,"\u003Cp>Inside the home dressing room at Old Trafford, the atmosphere was clinical.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>José Mourinho, fresh from his tactical tweaks, reviewed the first half in a deep, measured voice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Tottenham's pressing is relentless,\" he admitted, pacing before the tactics board. \"It is impressive. Almost non-stop. But remember this: no human being can sprint for ninety minutes.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He tapped the whiteboard hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They are running on adrenaline. Adrenaline fades. Fatigue sets in. Around the 65th minute, the cracks will appear. Be patient. Survive the storm.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ling sat on the bench, toweling off sweat, his eyes focused intently on the manager.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he listened to Mourinho's analysis, he gradually formed his own understanding, merging the coach's words with the data he'd absorbed from the system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tottenham's core principles:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unlimited Pressing: Chase everything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Front-and-Back Traps: Surround the ball carrier from all angles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Isolation: Keep the ball away from key playmakers (Matic, Mkhitaryan).\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pochettino had perfected this approach, achieving significant results.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was like walking a tightrope at high altitude without a safety net.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the press failed—if just one player missed a tackle—there was almost no room for recovery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The space behind them was vast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All it took was a technically skilled player with elite vision, someone like Willian or De Bruyne, to exploit that space with a single long pass during transition.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'I can do that,' Ling thought, visualizing the angle. 'I can be the pivot.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>....\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the away dressing room, the mood was different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was fiery.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Mauricio Pochettino wasn't anxious. He conveyed a rugged, South American calmness to his players.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"In the second half,\" he said, his voice firm, \"we increase the intensity. We drain their energy. We make them suffer.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Remember, move early. Anticipate. We have practiced this. Do not let them turn.\" He looked around the room.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"And when they pass the ball... everyone must stretch a leg. Disrupt the flow. Make them feel you. Make them fear you!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Despite Pochettino's outwardly honest and simple \"nice guy\" appearance, he had the blood of Newell's Old Boys running through his veins.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Uninhibited, physical aggression was deeply ingrained in his philosophy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Son Heung-min sat in a corner of the dressing room, head bowed, lost in thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was frustrated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ling's goal had been a moment of individual brilliance that he felt he should have produced.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He needed to respond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>....\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The fifteen-minute break passed quickly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The players returned to the pitch, and Old Trafford buzzed with nervous energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beep!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the referee's whistle, the second half officially began.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tottenham's entire formation pushed forward aggressively, launching a fierce, almost suicidal high press without any regard for their stamina bars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under these circumstances, Manchester United's players simply couldn't maintain possession.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They conceded the ball, retreating into a deep, compact block to focus entirely on defending their 1-0 lead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, they had experience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Having previously survived Klopp's \"heavy metal\" football, they knew how to weather a storm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They occupied the defensive third, inviting Tottenham onto them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Relying on their \"spectacular\" goalkeeper, David De Gea, they allowed Tottenham to take speculative long-range shots from non-dangerous areas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This, however, exhausted De Gea thoroughly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was a one-man wall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Martin Tyler: \"It's relentless from Spurs. Wave after wave. But they just can't get past the Spaniard.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Gary Neville: \"Let me give you a stat, Martin. Based on the 'Post-Shot Expected Goals' (PSxG) model, De Gea has saved United +12.5 goals this season already. That is absurd. He is performing at a level we have rarely seen in the Premier League.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tyler: \"And there's another one! Kane from distance... tipped over! Brilliant! De Gea has made another save! That's his sixth of the game!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, on the pitch, the Tottenham players were bewildered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They felt like NPCs in a video game, existing just to pad De Gea's save statistics.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to Pochettino's plan, they had intended to force an error and equalize by now. But United simply refused to hold possession long enough to make a mistake.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were stubbornly defending the final thirty meters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the sidelines, Mourinho's eyes narrowed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He vaguely sensed that the tide was turning. Tottenham players aren't robots.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They couldn't maintain this intensity for 90 minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their sprints were becoming jogs. Their tackles were a fraction late.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was the \"fatigue period.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He quickly gestured from the technical area—a sharp, forward slicing motion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Go. Now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the 67th minute of the match, Son Heung-min received the ball on the left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He cut inside, combined with Alli in a simple one-two, and then took a direct long-range shot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The ball whistled toward the goal but was blocked bravely by the chest of Phil Jones.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tottenham players immediately swarmed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if they couldn't win the ball back instantly, they aimed to foul or slow down the counter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after nearly 70 minutes of high-intensity running, their reaction time was slower.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seizing this moment, Nemanja Matić turned away from trouble and played a sharp pass to Ling on the left flank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the Tottenham players seemed prepared for this outlet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They shifted immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kieran Trippier moved up. Mousa Dembélé slid across. Christian Eriksen dropped back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They formed a tight, triangular pressing cage around Ling.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ling took in the movements of all three players. His vision, honed over months of training, slowed the chaotic picture down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He saw Trippier coming. He saw Dembélé's shadow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But peripherally, he spotted Juan Mata making a run on the far side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He feinted to drive forward down the line with the ball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this body language, Eriksen immediately shifted inward to cover the space Dembélé had vacated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And at that moment, Ling didn't drive forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He planted his foot and executed a Cruyff Turn, pulling the ball violently backward and away from the pressure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Retreating instead of advancing? Was he slowing down the attack?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before the fans could grasp the implication, Ling looked up and whipped a stunning, cross-field diagonal pass with his right foot.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Smack!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a crisp sound, the spinning ball bypassed the entire Tottenham midfield cluster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It dropped perfectly toward the right flank, shattering Tottenham's high press and throwing their entire formation into disarray.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Brilliant!\" Juan Mata couldn't help but exclaim in admiration as he cushioned the ball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought to himself that Ling hadn't wasted a single minute of his extra training sessions with Michael Carrick—this long pass was executed with the perfect weight and timing of a veteran maestro.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Manchester United instantly shifted their attack to Tottenham's defensive weak side, creating a numerical advantage in the danger zone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Romelu Lukaku advanced like a tank, pressing against Tottenham's retreating defensive line, occupying the center-backs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zlatan Ibrahimović followed through the central channel, lurking in the \"hole,\" ready to receive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the penalty area on Tottenham's right side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Facing Danny Rose—the aggressive fullback—Mata didn't engage in a duel or try to beat him for pace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew his strengths. He simply played a clean, square pass into the center.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ibrahimović was there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He received the ball and turned past Harry Winks in one fluid motion, cushioning the ball half a meter in front of him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Memories of his past dominance flashed through his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Lion smelled blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His chest filled with boundless confidence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Without hesitation, he unleashed a thunderous strike! The ball shot toward the goal like a cannonball, rising all the way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hugo Lloris, redeeming his earlier error, stretched his body to the absolute limit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He flew to his right, palming the ball away with a strong fist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"A powerful shot! Oh! A world-class save! Lloris keeps Tottenham in it!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Groans of disappointment immediately swept through Old Trafford.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>United fans clutched their heads, unable to accept that such a strike hadn't burst the net.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tottenham supporters breathed sighs of relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Eh? Who's going to get the second ball?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the camera swiftly panned, the ball dropped toward the left half-space.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because Tottenham's players had shifted right to deal with Mata and Ibrahimović, the left side was left completely exposed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The rebound was falling into a vacuum.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, a red figure dashed into the frame like a ghost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jeremy Ling, having started the move sixty yards away, hadn't stopped running.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>---------\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Please read my new fanfic, Fairy Tail : Digimon Take Over\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Read 30 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>patreon (.)com\u002FNewbietranslator\u003C\u002Fp>",1377,"2026-06-05T22:48:23.062Z",1,"novelbin.me","73470cd13cc7037600e1af23e41365f127d19d5bf43562e7d561b76382b2e855","start-with-r9-template-chapter-73","start-with-r9-template-chapter-71",371,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fstart-with-r9-template-cover.jpg"]