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Chapter 179: Lin Quan Opens His Mouth and Causes a Sensation in His Debut.
When Mbia committed a foul against David Silva, Lin Quan had already checked his points balance in the system and was prepared to redeem his injury immunity talent.
After the DFB-Pokal final with Werder Bremen, Lin Quan had 50 points in his system.
Although he didn't win the Bundesliga's top assist award, he received 20 points for the Bundesliga Golden Boot award.
This brought his total to 70 points.
In the Confederations Cup, Spain won all their matches and Lin Quan played in all of them, earning him another 10 points.
Unfortunately, there were no extra points for winning the Golden Boot or Best Player in the Confederations Cup.
Since joining Manchester City, Lin Quan has played a total of 4 matches.
The match in the Audi Cup against AC Milan and the friendly against Fulham were both won by Manchester City, earning him 4 points.
So his total is now 84 points.
The injury immunity talent requires 100 points. Although he doesn't have enough points to fully purchase it, he's close.
But if he upgrades it from his previous level, it would be perfect!
His level 2 injury talent was worth 20 points, so he only needs to spend 80 points to upgrade it.
Without enough points to redeem the injury immunity talent, how could he have the confidence to debut in the Premier League? Premier League defenders might consider him easily manipulable, but what do they not know about the monster they're facing?
When they saw Lin Quan moving easily and without signs of injury, both Manchester City and Newcastle players were amazed.
They couldn't help but stare at Lin Quan's ankles, wondering if they were made of iron.
How was it possible that the players who brought him down got injured while he remained unscathed?
What was going on?
After the referee showed the red card to Mbia, he continued screaming in pain on the ground, unable to get up.
That's when they realized he was truly injured.
However, the injury he suffered was completely self-inflicted when he committed a foul from behind, so no one sympathized with him.
With the score against them and a teammate expelled, Newcastle was in a desperate situation. They no longer had hopes of earning points; they just hoped not to be humiliated at the Etihad Stadium.
Therefore, at the start of the second half, the Newcastle coach replaced all his forwards with defenders, clearly with the intention of avoiding an overwhelming defeat.
But sometimes, parking the bus isn't enough.
With the injury immunity talent redeemed, Lin Quan was even more unstoppable in the second half.
And with all of Newcastle's forwards out, they no longer posed a threat to Manchester City's goal.
So, at the beginning of the second half, Manchester City players launched an attack, cornering Newcastle.
After a series of relentless attacks, Newcastle finally gave in.
In the 76th minute of the second half, Manchester City took advantage of a corner and Yaya Touré scored.
The score was now 4-0. Newcastle was being massacred!
The Etihad Stadium turned into a sea of joy as Manchester City fans celebrated the victory in their first match of the Premier League season.
But that wasn't enough.
Although Lin Quan had scored two goals and provided an assist in this match, fans weren't satisfied.
Many hoped that Lin Quan could achieve a hat-trick in his Premier League debut.
Manchester City fans began to chant for a hat-trick:
"Hat-trick!"
"Hat-trick!"
The Newcastle players, embarrassed by the 4-0 thrashing, now had a new goal: to prevent Lin Quan from scoring another goal.
They would rather let other Manchester City players score than allow this guy to get a hat-trick.
By then, most Newcastle players had retreated to their own area, along with Manchester City players, meaning there were too many people in the area.
Lin Quan tried to break through the defense several times, but was unsuccessful.
So he decided to try his luck from outside the box.
In the 82nd minute, instead of running towards the goal as before, Lin Quan surprised everyone with a shot from outside the box.
Defenders, who had been expecting a dribble, couldn't react in time.
Krul, Newcastle's goalkeeper, tried to block the shot, but realized the ball wasn't moving as expected.
Despite his efforts, he couldn't stop the ball.
Lin Quan's goal completed his hat-trick in his first Premier League match and brought the score to 5-0.
After scoring, Lin Quan ran to the sidelines, took off his shirt, and revealed a tight-fitting shirt underneath.
Cameras quickly focused on him, showing the words written on the shirt on the giant screens:
"For the fans of Manchester City!"
The fans went wild upon seeing this.
"Oh! It seems like the new signing for Manchester City has already won the hearts of the Citizens' fans."
In the Sky Sports booth, Andy Gray let out an exaggerated laugh before speaking.
"To score a hat-trick in his first official match with the team and show incredible determination on the field, even coming out in defense of his injured teammates! Who wouldn't love a player like that?"
Martin Tyler, being a neutral commentator, wasn't surprised by the reaction of Manchester City fans. Even he, as a neutral, was starting to sympathize with Lin Quan.
Ever since he commented on the Confederations Cup matches, Martin Tyler had fallen in love with Lin Quan's style of play.
So, after Lin Quan joined the Premier League, Martin Tyler requested to comment on Manchester City's matches.
He was eager to see what kind of feats this young under-eighteen could achieve in the Premier League.
Finally, with a hat-trick from Lin Quan and an assist, Manchester City defeated Newcastle 5-0 at home and began the new season at the top of the Premier League table with a five-goal difference.
After the match, as expected, Lin Quan, who had performed outstandingly, was surrounded by journalists.
The Manchester City press officer intervened to protect Lin Quan.
After getting Lin Quan's consent, he addressed the journalists:
"Come one by one, don't crowd!"
After saying this, he pointed to some familiar journalists and allowed Lin Quan to interview them.
"Lin Quan, I'm a reporter from The Guardian, what rating would you give yourself for your performance in this match?"
The Guardian and Manchester City have a good relationship, and they are a professional and regular football newspaper, so they don't try to create sensational news.
They asked a fairly standard question, and Lin Quan responded equally standardly:
"A pass, I suppose. I'm quite satisfied with my performance in this match, but the coordination with my teammates still isn't good enough. I hope to improve that in the future."
The Guardian reporter thought that someone as talented as Lin Quan, nicknamed the "third in football," and who had scored a hat-trick in his debut, would be proud, even arrogant.
He didn't expect such a modest response. How high are this guy's standards for himself?
The reporter was intrigued. By his standard, what kind of performance would deserve a perfect score?
"It's my turn! Hello, Lin Quan! I'm a reporter from The Sun. What do you think of the playing style of Newcastle's players and the refereeing in the Premier League in this match?"
Unlike The Guardian, The Sun is a sensationalist tabloid.
They rely on sensational news and rumors to attract attention.
Lin Quan deciphered the other side's intention; The Sun reporter wanted him to criticize the wild style of Premier League football and the referees' tolerance, to provoke conflicts between the two teams and draw attention from the Football Association.
Critiquing the referees could result in sanctions from the Football Association, Lin Quan wasn't foolish, how could he fall for that?
"Each team has its own style:
Arsenal can play dazzling football; Manchester United can play exciting football; the solid and defensive Chelsea is famous worldwide; the brave Liverpool once created the miracle of Istanbul.
But Newcastle can only resort to these brutal buffalo-style fouls to compete, why? Because their players can't play like Arsenal with their elegant passes and cuts, they lack the passion of Manchester United, they can't optimize defense like Chelsea, nor do they have the tenacity of Liverpool to not give up in adversity.
So, what else can they do, apart from brutal fouls?"
Lin Quan's rhetorical question left the reporter confused.
Although the Premier League is known for its intense action, many fouls, and strong physical clashes, not all teams are as wild!
This brutal football is just an excuse for those small and mediocre teams that lack tactical ambition and technical skills.
Any team with a bit of ambition is opting for a technical route.
After the match, Lin Quan, who had an excellent debut in the Premier League, attracted the attention of the major media outlets.
"Mr. 100 Million shines in his debut with a hat-trick, leads the team to a great victory, and tops the Premier League!"
"The Spanish superstar arrives in the Premier League, three goals and an assist, earning recognition from the fans!"
"The Premier League also has its own superstar, La Liga is no longer the only one to have them!"
In summary, the major media outlets praised Lin Quan's debut.
After the match, Lin Quan received a rating of 9.2, the highest in the match, and was named MVP.
Many former outstanding Premier League players were pleased with Lin Quan's phenomenal performance.
Kevin Keegan praised Lin Quan as the kind of attacking player he had always wished for, as excellent as Alan Shearer in his day.
Ferguson, in an interview, said that since Cristiano Ronaldo left, the Premier League had lost its top-level superstar.
Lin Quan's arrival filled that gap, keeping the Premier League on par with La Liga.
Having a top-level superstar in football means having conversation topics and appeal, which would elevate the Premier League's influence in the world, especially in the Far East.
Arsène Wenger, coach of Arsenal, believes that Lin Quan's arrival will further strengthen the importance of technical football in the Premier League.
The technical dominance and passing ability of Spanish players will create a trend that will infuse English football with a new dose of technique, possibly leading a new wave.
"Just as when I arrived at Arsenal, I changed their approach, Lin Quan's arrival has at least brought the same mentality to Manchester City."
In recent years, Spanish teams have performed prominently in the Champions League and international competitions, and although many countries may not agree, they cannot avoid secretly studying the style of La Liga.
Bringing in a top-level midfielder with exceptional vision and great passing ability from La Liga is becoming more and more of a trend.
In addition to the positive news, Lin Quan's criticisms of Newcastle also sparked controversy in the football world.
"Arrogance or bravery? Premier League rookie fiercely criticizes the traditional style of Premier League teams!"
"Lin Quan: Premier League football is synonymous with brutality and mediocrity!"
Newspapers that choose exaggerated headlines are usually tabloids that are not well-known and like to attract readers with catchy headlines.
However, because they used sensational headlines and Lin Quan is currently the standout player of the Premier League, their reports received a lot of attention.
These reports also sparked passionate debates among fans.
"I'm an Arsenal fan, and I must say I agree with Lin Quan.
The small teams in the Premier League, lacking ambition to improve their tactics and skills, are really repugnant, and my team suffers a lot because of that!"
"Totally agree with the Arsenal fan! When Premier League teams face us, they love to commit fouls. The first time they played against us, the rough challenges from their players on the field, in other leagues would have resulted in several expulsions."
"I'm a Liverpool fan, and we also suffer a lot from injuries, so I support Lin Quan too."
"Haha, do Liverpool's injuries have more to do with the team doctors, right?"
"Manchester United fans agree, in recent years our tactics and skills have improved a lot, and our results have greatly improved. Although there is still a gap with the best teams in La Liga, our progress is evident!"
Because Lin Quan praised the four big teams after the match, fans of these teams decreased their resistance towards him, some even began to sympathize with Lin Quan!
For ordinary people or even normal football stars, being praised by the four big teams may not mean much.
But being praised by a superstar like Lin Quan made fans of the four big teams feel like they had found a treasure, they felt very good!
So, fans of the big teams immediately responded with praise towards Lin Quan, uniformly joining his cause.
For these big teams, each of their players on the field is worth a lot.
But in matches against mid-table and lower Premier League teams, it is easy for their expensive players to be injured by the other team.
An injury would not only severely affect the club's league performance, but could also affect Champions League matches.
Competition in the Champions League is much more intense than in the Premier League, and perhaps, in some matches, the absence of a key player could result in a defeat and elimination from the tournament.
For these big teams, that is unacceptable.
But fans of the smaller teams were not so kind to Lin Quan.
Newcastle fans reacted fiercely to Lin Quan's criticisms:
"Kid, shut your mouth, or when you come to St. James' Park, we'll make sure you enter standing and leave kneeling!"
Faced with threats from the opposing team's fans, Lin Quan filed a complaint with the Football Association through Manchester City.
The Football Association could not ignore the personal threat to Lin Quan from Newcastle fans.
As Ferguson said, Lin Quan is the only Premier League superstar who can compete with the greatest players in history.
If they allow Premier League teams to destroy him with foul tactics, the Premier League could gain a negative reputation, making it difficult to attract the world's top stars.
Therefore, they had to intervene.
Additionally, after the match, Mansour used his influence within the Football Association to pressure them, forcing them to urgently implement a series of measures.
For players with great influence in the world of football like Lin Quan, the Football Association hinted to referees to increase protection towards them on the field.
Preventing them from suffering serious fouls to avoid damaging the reputation and prestige of the Premier League and the Football Association.
(End of chapter)
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