111: The "no-striker formation" experiment and the youth training parade

The atmosphere at the EFL Trophy pre-match meeting should have been relaxed.

Having just overcome Carlisle United, the team's morale was high.

When Lin Feng drew a peculiar "4-6-0" formation on the tactics board, the air in the meeting room solidified.

Old John's eyebrows furrowed, and he pointed to the empty striker position, speaking first.

"Boss, I'm not mistaken, am I? Where are the forwards?"

Youth Academy Director Tony Pulis also leaned in, his weathered face filled with confusion.

He tapped the tactics board with his thick finger: "Without forwards, how do we score? Do we just let the defenders take a wild shot?"

There was a hint of challenge in his tone.

This was a professional coach's instinctive reaction, a defense of fundamental football logic.

"We score, not by relying on forwards."

Lin Feng turned around, picked up a marker, and drew several crisscrossing arrows in the crowded midfield area.

"We rely on 'space' and 'late runs from deep'."

His voice was calm, yet it made the meeting room so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"Rotherham will think we're fielding a bunch of kids and plan to defend deep.

They'll push up, wanting to devour us in front of their home fans.

This gives us the opportunity to exploit space."

He pointed to the names of the two most advanced midfielders on the tactics board—Tom Ince and Oliver Baker.

"Those two are our 'false nines'.

Their job isn't to stay at the very front waiting for the ball; on the contrary, they need to constantly drop back, even pulling wide to get on the ball.

Their movement will drag the opposing center-backs out of the penalty area."

Lin Feng's pen drew a large blank area in front of the opponent's penalty box.

"When the center-backs leave their defensive zone, this, this is our scoring corridor."

"Our six midfielders," he heavily circled those six names with his pen, "are like six pistons ready to fire at any moment.

Ince and Baker create the distraction, and the others take turns making late runs from deep, attacking this corridor.

The opposing defenders will be completely thrown into chaos because they'll never know who to mark next, nor where the real threat is coming from."

Old John and Pulis stared intently at the tactics board, their minds racing.

Pulis mumbled to himself: "Making the center-backs chase shadows... if they follow, there's space behind them; if they don't, our technical midfielders can calmly get on the ball and organize..."

"My God..." Old John uttered two words.

He felt his decades of football knowledge being shattered and then reshaped by this young man before him.

This wasn't just planning a match; this was articulating a football philosophy.

A philosophy of space and movement that transcended this era.

Lin Feng looked at the expressions on their faces and continued: "Winning or losing this match isn't the priority.

What I need to see is the movement of these kids, their creativity.

I want to see what our youth academy, what our training system, has truly given them."

"This is a review."

Phoenix Training Center.

When Old John announced the tactical arrangements for the match against Rotherham, a small stir arose on the training ground.

A group of young players, with an average age of under twenty-two, exchanged glances.

No forwards?

Fifteen-year-old Tom Ince and fourteen-year-old Oliver Baker were called aside.

They were the core of this tactic, and also the ones under the most pressure.

"Nervous?"

Lin Feng's voice came from behind them.

The two teenagers immediately stood up straight.

"Boss!"

"Don't be so formal." Lin Feng walked in front of them, "Did you understand the tactics?"

"Understood... roughly." Tom Ince mustered his courage and said, "Just keep running and drag away the person marking me?"

"Very smart." Lin Feng nodded, "But not enough.

You not only need to drag people away, but also, while doing so, observe the position of your teammates behind you.

Your movement is creating opportunities for them.

You are the bait, and also the signal tower."

He rarely personally stepped onto the field to coach, but today, he stood among these young people.

"Forget your positions, forget the pressure to score.

Treat the pitch as a canvas, and use your runs and passes to paint the most beautiful patterns on it.

I don't want to see how many goals you score; I want to see how many times you can create combinations that leave your opponents in disarray."

"Don't be afraid to make mistakes; here, the right to make mistakes belongs to you.

Go run, go pass, go enjoy the game."

His words had a peculiar magic, dispelling the tension and unease in the teenagers' hearts.

Training began.

The operation of this "false nine" formation was initially awkward and chaotic.

The players instinctively looked for a focal point upfront, only to find no one there.

Passing errors occurred frequently.

But Lin Feng didn't call a halt; he just watched quietly.

Twenty minutes later, a change occurred.

Oliver Baker received the ball at the top of the box.

Instead of trying to dribble or shoot like a traditional attacking midfielder, he suddenly made a diagonal backward run.

Rotherham's simulated center-back instinctively followed him out.

The moment the center-back left his position, Anthony Sweeney, a substitute midfielder who had been lurking in the second line, surged like a sharp sword into that vacuum from the flank.

Baker didn't look back, releasing the ball with one touch, and it accurately found the onrushing Sweeney.

Although Sweeney's final shot went high due to nervousness, the entire attacking sequence flowed smoothly.

Old John and Pulis exchanged glances from the sidelines, both seeing the shock in each other's eyes.

It worked!

The theoretical "piston" tactic had worked for the first time in reality!

In the subsequent training, the players' confidence grew.

Ince and Baker's runs became more fluid, like two tireless fish, unsettling the opponent's defense.

And the midfielders behind them also began to make more decisive forward runs.

On the pitch, an unprecedented attacking model was slowly taking shape under the feet of these young players.

The day before the match.

Hartlepool United's official website announced the squad list for the EFL Trophy match.

Vardy, Sigurdsson, Henderson, Walker... all the key players were rested.

In their place was a long list of unfamiliar names.

Tom Ince, Oliver Baker, Anthony Sweeney... the average age of this squad was even under 22.

As soon as the news broke, the outside media was in an uproar.

The Daily Mail: "Strategic surrender? Hartlepool United's ambition is limited to the League."

Sky Sports commentators, meanwhile, believed: "Understandable rotation, but fielding such a youth team is almost tantamount to an early surrender.

This is disrespectful to the EFL Trophy competition itself."

In Rotherham, South Yorkshire, local media even viewed Hartlepool United's squad list as a sign of contempt and insult.

Rotherham's head coach, at the pre-match press conference, faced a barrage of reporters with undisguised mockery on his face.

"I've seen their squad list.

To be honest, I'm a little disappointed.

I thought we would have a real battle."

He spread his hands and smiled at the camera.

"It seems Hartlepool United's bench has no one left to use except a bunch of kids."

"But it's okay, we're happy to give these promising young people a lively lesson on our home ground."