110: Cracks in the "Iron Bucket Formation"

In the locker room.

Jamie Vardy kicked a locker, making a dull thud. “Damn it! Did they block the entire city of Carlisle in front of the goal?”

Jordan Henderson sat on the bench, panting heavily, sweat mixed with rain running down his forehead.

He had spent the entire half trying to get the ball into the opponent's dangerous area, but each time it was like hitting an invisible wall.

Old John’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He walked to the corner and answered the call, and everyone in the locker room followed his gaze.

On the other end of the line, Lin Feng’s voice came through the receiver, calm and unruffled. “Don’t be impatient.”

“Their stamina can’t sustain this intensity of defense. Every collision, every block, is wearing them down. The scales of victory are already tipping in our favor.”

Old John listened, nodding repeatedly. He could imagine the boss sitting in the VIP box, watching a screen where the flickering numbers had already pronounced the opponent’s death sentence.

“In the second half, continue with the rib penetration.”

“But increase the frequency of off-ball runs, and have Snodgrass and Maloney frequently switch positions with Walker and Robson. Use their runs to completely tear apart their defense.”

“Cracks will appear very soon.”

Hanging up the phone, Old John turned around, facing a row of anxious faces. “The boss says we’re doing well.”

The players looked stunned. “Well?” Vardy couldn’t believe his ears, “We haven’t even had one decent shot!”

“Let me finish!” Old John raised his voice, “They’re like a fat man desperately holding his breath, looking strong, but already on the verge of suffocating. In the second half, all we need to do is keep his head pushed down!”

He pointed to the positions of the two full-backs on the tactics board. “Kyle! Andy! You are not defenders, you are wingers! Charge! Use your speed to tear open their flanks!”

“Everyone else, run! Use your off-ball runs to make them move! Make them chase your shadows until they cramp up!”

“They think this is a defensive victory? No, this is the grave of their stamina!”

The whistle for the second half blew.

Carlisle United’s players returned to the field with the confidence from the first half, but they soon found that Hartlepool’s offense had changed.

Kyle Walker, like a sports car fueled up, launched attack after attack down the right flank. He was no longer simply crossing, but frequently performing one-two passes with Snodgrass, constantly attacking the junction between Carlisle United’s left-back and left center-back with small-range give-and-gos.

Carlisle’s left flank defense felt overwhelmed and top-heavy for the first time. They had to commit more players to besiege Walker, but this created space in the middle. Sigurdsson and Henderson began to get more space to receive the ball.

In the 50th minute, Walker once again drove to the byline.

In the 55th minute, Robson cut in from the left and took a long shot.

In the 58th minute, Snodgrass received a pass from Sigurdsson in the rib area, turned and shot, which was spectacularly saved by goalkeeper Westwood.

In front of Carlisle United’s goal, alarms blared one after another. Their defense, like a battleship under continuous bombardment, began to show dents on its steel hull.

Carlisle’s coach on the sidelines had long lost his smile, replaced by constant shouts at the field, but his instructions could no longer stop the gradually spiraling situation on the pitch.

The 62nd minute.

History repeated itself at this moment, yet it was completely different.

Walker and Snodgrass once again executed a brilliant one-two on the right flank. Walker, like a gust of wind, swept past the defenders and successfully reached the byline.

This time, he did not choose to cross, but pulled the ball back, created an angle, and unleashed a powerful shot!

The ball was blocked by a desperately retreating defender and flew high out of bounds.

Corner kick! This was Hartlepool United’s fifth corner kick of the second half.

Center-backs Ryan Shawcross and Nelson had already rushed into the opponent’s penalty area as instructed.

Sigurdsson stood at the corner flag, took a deep breath, ran up, and kicked the ball.

The ball traced a high, spinning arc in the air, precisely bypassing the near post and flying towards the center of the penalty area.

There, it was chaos.

Shawcross, like a bomber taking off from an aircraft carrier, pushed away the defender in front of him and leaped vigorously towards the falling ball!

He rose high above Carlisle’s captain Kevin Gray, concentrating all his strength on his forehead.

A powerful header!

The ball, like a cannonball, shot straight into the top right corner of the goal! Goalkeeper Westwood didn't even have time to react.

One-nil!

That impregnable “iron barrel formation” finally had a fatal crack smashed open!

After scoring, Shawcross roared to the sky, and his teammates rushed over like madmen, piling on top of him. This goal had been held in for too long!

Carlisle United’s players had bewildered expressions on their faces. They had defended stubbornly for over sixty minutes, only to have all their efforts destroyed by a center-back in the most brutal way.

They had no choice but to abandon their deep defense, and their formation began to push forward, attempting to equalize. And this was exactly what Lin Feng had intended.

The 78th minute.

A passing error occurred in Carlisle United’s backfield, as they were eager to attack, and the ball was stolen by a suddenly pressing Jordan Henderson!

Hartlepool United launched a counterattack on the spot!

Henderson didn’t hold onto the ball for a second, directly poking it to Sigurdsson in front of him.

The Icelander, without even looking, delivered a surgical through ball with the outside of his foot!

The ball pierced through the huge gap left by Carlisle United’s advanced formation.

A black lightning bolt shot out from the crowd!

It was Jamie Vardy! With his signature explosive power, he instantly shook off the exhausted defender, creating a one-on-one opportunity!

Facing the onrushing goalkeeper, Vardy calmly used the simplest of push shots to send the ball into the far corner of the goal.

Two-nil!

The match was completely sealed!

Vardy sprinted towards the corner flag, unleashing all his pent-up fury from the entire match onto the turf with an aggressive knee slide.

In the last ten minutes of the match, Old John made several substitutions, and the game completely entered garbage time. Hartlepool United won this tough match without breaking a sweat, securing their fourth consecutive League victory and continuing to lead the table with a perfect record.

After the match, a Sky Sports commentator remarked, “We all thought Hartlepool United was just a sharp dagger, but today we discovered that when a dagger cannot pierce armor, they will not hesitate to bring out a battering ram. Their arsenal is unfathomable.”

This hard-fought victory also filled the entire team with confidence for the upcoming EFL Trophy, even though Lin Feng had already decided that the reserve team would play in that match.

On the bus back to Hartlepool, the atmosphere was lively.

Young Tom Ince and Oliver Baker, who had just been promoted to the first team, were red-faced with excitement when they learned they would be starting in the next match, constantly asking their senior teammates for advice on game experience.

Lin Feng sat in the back row, not participating in their celebration. His gaze, passing through the car window, was cast into the distant night.

In his mind, the system interface was simulating the next match.

Opponent, Rotherham.

An insignificant opponent.

Precisely because it was insignificant, it gave him the boldest experimental ground.

He looked at a tactical formation in the system, one he had personally designed and which had never appeared in reality—a formation without a striker.

He wanted to see what kind of power this “false nine” formation from the future could unleash in this “unimportant” match.