Football Genius Midfielder System

Chapter 476: Chapter 477: This Season, I’m Playing for Myself!

“There was barely any room to shoot on that wonder goal. I mean, if that had been almost any other midfielder, he probably wouldn’t even have gotten the shot away.”

“He was so far from goal too. It’s incredibly difficult to generate that much power from that distance!”

“And then you still have to find the angle. That makes it even harder!”

“Stones and Bernardo Silva stayed glued to him for more than twenty minutes, never giving him an inch. Then they lost him by a single step. Just one step. And Leo immediately smashed in a long-range goal, with Gakpo getting the assist!”

Gakpo was staring at Leo.

“Leo, how do I learn to hit long-range shots like that and become a specialist from distance?”

Leo felt like someone had asked him almost the exact same question on the pitch before.

Back then, however, it had been a Brazilian center forward asking him.

A little vain, but undeniably very handsome.

Firmino, how are you doing in Saudi Arabia?

Make sure you spend plenty of time with Vivian. There are a lot of rich men over there.

Leo suddenly found himself thinking about Firmino in the middle of the match.

Just as he was starting to feel sentimental, a handsome young Brazilian in the stands was waving frantically at him, as though terrified Leo might not notice.

Wasn’t that Firmino?

And standing beside him, with the same hairstyle as Guardiola, wasn’t that Fabinho?

“Leo, I’m over here!”

Firmino and Fabinho took turns jumping up and down, desperately trying to get Leo’s attention after his goal.

“Fabinho, lift me up! Hurry! The captain won’t see us otherwise!”

Fabinho immediately grabbed Firmino with both arms and lifted him into the air.

At that exact moment, the stadium’s giant screen cut to the two of them in the stands, allowing everyone inside the stadium to see their affectionate embrace.

“We can see Firmino and Fabinho here supporting Liverpool, but what exactly are those two doing?”

The moment Firmino realized the big screen was showing them, he froze.

Then he quickly patted Fabinho behind him, signaling for him to put him down.

Fabinho, however, thought he meant he wasn’t holding him high enough.

“I’m trying, Firmino! Is this still not high enough? Do you want me to stand on the seat?”

Firmino forced the biggest smile he could toward the giant screen, then lowered his voice so the supporters around them wouldn’t hear.

“Fabinho, they’re showing us on the big screen. Put me down, quickly!”

Fabinho immediately lowered Firmino, stepped to the side, and smiled toward the screen.

Leo burst out laughing when he saw them.

Even after leaving Liverpool, Firmino and Fabinho still had the ability to make him laugh almost instantly.

The match between Liverpool and Manchester City continued.

Guardiola was still using that collapsing, sponge-like pressing shape to disrupt Liverpool’s buildup.

It was working to some extent, but it couldn’t completely stop Liverpool.

Meanwhile, Manchester City’s attacks began focusing more heavily on Joe Gomez’s side.

The 33rd minute!

“De Bruyne has been looking for Foden constantly, but Gomez and Rodri have been working together extremely well!”

Almost as soon as Gullit finished speaking, De Bruyne finally found an opening to play the ball to Foden.

Foden, playing on the left wing, received it and immediately drove forward.

He quickly beat Joe Gomez and reached the byline.

There wasn’t much space left after getting past Gomez, but Foden had still managed to break into a dangerous area.

Instead of crossing, he cut the ball back toward Grealish near the edge of the penalty area.

As Grealish received it, he first used his back to hold off Mac Allister, then relied on his excellent dribbling to shift left.

A moment later, he threaded the ball perfectly toward Jesus, who was making a forward run.

This was exactly the kind of position Jesus loved.

After receiving the ball, Jesus shaped as though he were going to strike with his left foot.

Then he suddenly drove the ball toward Alisson with his right.

Most goalkeepers would have reacted to the first feint.

But Alisson was also a Brazil international, and he had seen Jesus make that exact adjustment countless times in national team training.

So Alisson didn’t move at all for the first feint.

When the real shot came, he caught it cleanly.

Ederson watched from the opposite end and shook his head.

As another goalkeeper who had seen Jesus do this countless times in training, he knew he would have reacted exactly the same way as Alisson.

“Alisson catches Jesus’s shot with absolutely no trouble!”

Alisson immediately followed it with a powerful throw toward Mac Allister.

Mac Allister moved the ball on to Díaz.

Díaz used his pace to beat Cancelo and was preparing to continue forward when Cancelo grabbed him and dragged him down.

The referee showed Cancelo a yellow card.

“Díaz has usually played on the left, but Klopp has moved him to the right today, directly against Cancelo.”

“Klopp clearly wants to keep Díaz away from Kyle Walker so he can make full use of his ability to beat defenders!”

“And it also forces Cancelo to think twice before pushing forward. You could argue that Díaz is actually more useful on the right than the left today, at least against Manchester City!”

Cancelo’s foul came near the left side of the pitch, close to the touchline.

Leo and Mac Allister both stood over the free kick.

Gullit was certain Leo would cross.

“Scoring directly from this position is almost impossible. Based on the way Leo has played over the past few seasons, he’s definitely going to pass. That’s the best way to combine with his teammates.”

Gullit spoke with the confidence of someone convinced that nobody understood Leo better than he did.

Then, under Scholes’s amused gaze, Leo shot directly.

And he kept it low.

Ederson watched the ball thread through the wall, bounce off the turf, and skip toward the far post.

The Brazilian goalkeeper reacted immediately, shifting across and getting the lower part of his palm behind it.

Only then did he manage to push Leo’s effort away from goal.

“The angle wasn’t ideal, but that was still an excellent strike! He found the gap in the wall, and the bounce gave the shot even more bite!”

“Ederson’s timing was excellent as well!”

“Gullit, who told you Leo definitely wouldn’t shoot?”

Gullit looked as though he was wondering whether his eyes had deceived him.

“That was Mac Allister who took it, wasn’t it? Not Leo?”

Rivaldo laughed.

Gullit would rather believe he had mistaken one player for another than admit he hadn’t completely figured Leo out.

“After what Leo did in the last match when he returned from injury, haven’t you figured out how he’s going to play this season yet?”

“This is the first season in Leo’s career where he’s had to deal with a lengthy injury layoff.”

“I think that time away changed the way he thinks.”

“That’s why both the previous match and this one are showing us the same thing.”

“This season, Leo is only going to play one kind of football.”

“Football for himself.”