When Sunderland's official first press conference of the new season was held at the Stadium of Light, in addition to local Sunderland newspapers, several major British newspapers also attended.
The Times, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph…
And of course, the ubiquitous The Sun.
In addition, there were naturally many reporters from the East, which was already common for the Sunderland People.
Whenever there was a match day involving Sunderland, inside and outside the Stadium of Light, many East Asian faces wearing Sunderland jerseys could always be seen.
In the past, such a large number of East Asians were only seen during Tottenham matches.
However, unlike the Koreans who spoke "Xi Ba" and wore number seven jerseys, the Chinese fans on Sunderland's side often had no numbers printed on their jerseys, or just a 0.
But the name printed on their jerseys was all the same: "Zhao Zhao"!
It was clear that these Chinese people came for Sunderland's Coach Zhao Zhao.
And these reporters, of course, were too.
In addition to Coach Zhao's "lingering prestige" from miraculously saving the team from relegation last season, his operations during the summer transfer window also attracted the attention of many media outlets.
After all, he invested 50 million euros!
And he also brought in as many as ten new players!
Although such an investment was still incomparable to the BIG6, it was already stronger than many mid-to-lower Premier League teams.
And the discussions sparked by the lukewarm performance of such a new team in the preseason naturally continued to the present.
Everyone wanted to know what kind of expectations Zhao Zhao had for the new season after assembling such a young team?
After all, Zhao Zhao's goals of reaching the European Cup or even the Champions League, whether to the owner or to the players and coaches, were all private discussions and had never been publicly declared.
So, as soon as Zhao Zhao took his seat on the podium in the press conference hall, a reporter from The Times immediately asked:
"Mr. Zhao, you invested heavily in this summer transfer window, and there have been significant personnel changes in the team. Are you looking for a breakthrough this season?"
Zhao Zhao said seriously: "We are a young team, and many players still need game experience to grow, so our goal this season is very realistic: to stay in the Premier League."
The reporters below looked at each other.
For them, who had wanted to hear Zhao Zhao make some grand declarations, this was indeed a bit unexpected.
They had even thought of headlines before coming here today.
Something like "Zhao Zhao Shouts Slogan of Entering Champions League!" "Zhao Zhao Declares He Wants to Be the Second Leicester City!" "Saved from relegation last season, aiming for top four this season? Sunderland's dream might really be just a dream"…
Anyway, whatever attracted eyeballs.
But now, Zhao Zhao said his team only wanted to avoid relegation?
What's the gimmick then?
If you ask the Coaches of teams like Swansea, Stoke City, or West Bromwich Albion, don't they all say they want to avoid relegation?
This is too boring, this is not like Zhao Zhao at all!
The reporter from The Times was clearly unwilling to give up, so he immediately pressed on:
"But you invested 50 million euros in the summer transfer window! If it's just for avoiding relegation, it doesn't seem necessary to invest so much. After all, didn't last season's squad also successfully avoid relegation in the end?"
Zhao Zhao smiled calmly and replied:
"Our squad last season was indeed good, but it lacked potential."
"And these young players I brought in during the summer transfer window, they all have the ability to become world-class stars; they represent the future of Sunderland."
"One could say that this season I am investing in these young players, and therefore our future will be very bright."
This answer made the reporters below even more disheartened.
Praising one's own young players for having potential and being able to become stars doesn't seem to be anything unusual; almost every Coach says that!
Young players emerge in waves in various Leagues every season, and few of them actually become world-class stars in the end…
Things like "we have a bright future" and "we are on the right track" are old clichés that reporters have heard countless times.
The key point was that Zhao Zhao emphasized his hope for the future, not for this season.
As for this season, it was still about avoiding relegation.
As news, this had no appeal to fans at all!
And Zhao Zhao had long anticipated such a "cold reception."
His words today were actually meant to reach the ears of his Premier League opponents, especially Pellegrino, the Coach of tomorrow's opponent, Southampton.
To show weakness to the enemy and lull them into complacency.
Making the opponent feel that he is weak will prevent them from focusing too much on defense at the Stadium of Light, and instead, they will play according to their normal routine, or even attack proactively.
The current Sunderland team still has some difficulty scoring goals against teams that play a compact defense—just like in the friendly against Nottingham Forest.
But if both sides can play openly, it will allow the young players to showcase their skills and running ability.
Furthermore, although Zhao Zhao primarily motivates the team internally, encouraging everyone to "create new history," being low-key in front of the public actually has its benefits.
This is somewhat similar to Leicester City in the season before last.
At that time, Leicester City was also at the bottom of the League table with the lowest points after 30 rounds in the 2014-2015 season, seemingly on the verge of relegation.
But from the 31st round to the 38th round, in eight matches, Leicester City actually achieved an astonishing record of 7 wins and 1 draw, miraculously avoiding relegation!
This was even better than Sunderland's record of 7 wins and 1 loss under Zhao Zhao last season…
Of course, after Leicester City successfully avoided relegation, their truly miraculous journey only began in the 2015-2016 season.
They ultimately achieved a record of 23 wins, 12 draws, and 3 losses, accumulating 81 points, and won the Premier League title!
And during this process, Leicester City's veteran Coach Ranieri always calculated his relegation points when interviewed by reporters:
"Ah, top of the table? I'm thinking about relegation."
"Still first after 16 rounds? But we only have 35 points. Historically, over 40 points are needed to ensure successful relegation avoidance."
"Already 50 points? But theoretically, we still have a chance of relegation…"
It wasn't until Leicester City was close to the points needed for an early title win that Ranieri playfully said:
"Alright, we might really win the title, Dilly-ding, dilly-dong!" (This "ding-dong" was the sound of the old man waking up the players for training while they were sleeping)
In other words, at least in the early part of this season, Zhao Zhao intends to emulate Ranieri.
This is a method to lull opponents and also a way to reduce pressure on young players.
Of course, if all goes well, Zhao Zhao, being "a passionate one," will likely be unable to restrain himself for long and will quickly show his fangs…
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August 12th, Match Day.
8:00 PM sharp.
The Stadium of Light was packed, with nearly fifty thousand fervent Sunderland fans creating an atmosphere that was even comparable to a World Cup final.
Although Sunderland's performance in the preseason was average, this did not diminish the fans' enthusiasm to attend the match.
This is the Premier League, this is their life, this is their whole world!
And when the players of both teams ran out from the tunnel, and the home team's Coach Zhao Zhao stood in front of the dugout waving to the stands, the Stadium of Light erupted in waves of applause and cheers!
Amidst such a fervent atmosphere, the starting lineups for both teams appeared in the center of the broadcast screen.
Southampton's Coach Pellegrino deployed his favorite 4-2-3-1 formation.
Goalkeeper: Forster.
Defenders: Bertrand, Van Dijk, Maya Yoshida, Cédric.
Defensive Midfielders: Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, Oriol Romeu.
Attacking Midfielders: Ward-Prowse, Tadić, Redmond.
Striker: Manolo Gabbiadini.
The player most worth Zhao Zhao's attention was their Ward-Prowse.
Although Ward-Prowse was only 22 years old this year, he had already played for Southampton's first team in 2012, and by the 2013-2014 season, at less than 19 years old, he had already become a team regular.
His performance had improved in the three seasons since, and he was now the team's central midfielder.
His position is usually in the midfield, but he can appear as a defensive midfielder or an attacking midfielder depending on tactical needs.
Today, Ward-Prowse did not appear as a defensive midfielder, but as an attacking midfielder, which indicated Pellegrino's intention for today.
That was to strengthen the attack and strive for a winning start at the Stadium of Light!
And this also indicated, to some extent, that Zhao Zhao's pre-match remarks had an effect…
Sunderland also lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation:
Goalkeeper: Pickford.
Defenders: Robertson, Ruben Dias, Kone, Zabaleta.
Defensive Midfielders: Cattermole, Rodri.
Attacking Midfielders: Sancho, Khazri, Foden.
Striker: Haaland.
This was the best lineup for today that Zhao Zhao had derived after simulation.
And this lineup was only finally confirmed thirty minutes before the match, so many people did not get the list in advance.
Upon seeing the starting lineups for both teams, PPTV commentator James Jun immediately exclaimed in surprise:
"Southampton's lineup today isn't particularly special, but Sunderland, how come they have so many young players?"
Today's guest commentator was still James Jun's old partner, Zhang Lu.
He also said: "It is indeed a bit surprising. In our predictions just now, I also thought they should primarily use the main players from last season for more stability."
James Jun: "With so many young players, Sunderland is very bold today. Don't they want to win? I always feel that the lineup they used in the last preseason match against Espanyol was Sunderland's main lineup for this season."
Zhang Lu: "Could it be that the lineup for that match was meant to mislead the opponent? We might only know once the match begins."
James Jun: "But no matter how much they try to mislead, they can't just replace Defoe, right? The starting striker today… he's still a 17-year-old kid!"
Zhang Lu: "Hehe… and that's not all. On either side of him, those two named… Sancho and Foden, are also under 18."
James Jun: "I don't understand, I don't understand. This is the first match of the season, the club should be taking it very seriously. But why does Zhao Zhao seem so unserious? In the friendly matches, these youngsters even lost to two EFL Championship teams, and today they are being put up against Premier League eighth-placed Southampton?"
While the commentators were making wild guesses, Southampton's Coach Pellegrino was even more baffled.
What was going on?
How did Sunderland directly field three kids in the attacking third???
The combined appearances of these three kids in the top five European Leagues was… 0!
It was fine that Borini wasn't playing, but why wasn't even their top scorer Defoe playing??
This was too unconventional!
Mainly, like most people, Pellegrino also believed that Sunderland's main lineup was the one that played against Espanyol.
Therefore, he had made detailed and targeted tactical arrangements against that lineup.
The most important of these was how Van Dijk would mark Defoe, and also how Maya Yoshida, the other center-back, would assist in defending him.
Because Pellegrino knew very well that Sunderland's most important firepower was Defoe!
As long as he could contain the star who scored 20 goals last season, Sunderland's offense would not be a threat, and then Southampton could confidently play their passing and control game.
But looking at this starting lineup now...
It felt like many of his arrangements were wasted!
Defoe wasn't even on the field, so where would he defend?
As for the young player who replaced him...
Besides knowing he was bought from Norway, Pellegrino had no more information on him.
A kid who had only played in the Norway League, with a value of only 500,000 Euros, what detailed information could there be? No one would pay attention to him.
The main thing was that he didn't expect him to play at all!
Letting several 17-year-old kids make their debut directly in the first Premier League home game, only Coach Zhao could do that!
And just as the Southampton Coach and players looked bewildered, a whistle sounded from the referee's mouth.
The first round of the 2017-2018 Premier League, Sunderland's home match against Southampton, began!
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At the start of the match, Southampton, playing as the dominant away team, still held the initiative.
Southampton had made almost no moves in the transfer market this season, only signing a backup goalkeeper, Gazzaniga, from Rayo Vallecano.
Although it seemed a bit shabby, this also ensured the team's integrity and chemistry to the greatest extent, as the team's lineup was basically the same as last season!
Precisely because of this, although some of their targeted deployments made before the match were rendered useless today due to Sunderland's lineup changes;
They still implemented the offensive-oriented game strategy that Coach Pellegrino had formulated early on, and with their rich match experience and skilled team cooperation, they launched a fierce attack on Sunderland's defense.
On the other hand, Sunderland had four players making their first appearance in an official professional match today, which inevitably caused some disarray.
In such a situation, some mistakes were unavoidable.
Soon after the start, Southampton completed a steal in midfield, and James Ward-Prowse's diagonal pass found Manolo Gabbiadini, who was sprinting forward.
Manolo Gabbiadini controlled the ball and shot in one smooth motion, but fortunately, Pickford, who was focused, managed to tip it out for a corner.
The corner was taken, and Ruben Dias got to the first ball, heading it directly out of the penalty area, defusing the dangerous situation.
Manolo Gabbiadini, the former Naples forward, actually wasn't very skillful with the ball at his feet and wasn't good at dribbling past opponents.
And although he was 186cm tall, he only weighed a little over seventy kilograms, so it was difficult for him to act as a target man in the front field.
He was more like a combination of a second striker and a pure poacher, making him very threatening in front of goal through his excellent off-ball movement and keen poaching instincts.
And when Manolo Gabbiadini came to Southampton and had a good passer like James Ward-Prowse to supply him with plenty of ammunition, it allowed him to unleash his full firepower!
This was why Coach Zhao emphasized the need to curb James Ward-Prowse's performance before the match.
Because without ammunition, a "tap-in striker" like Manolo Gabbiadini would find it very difficult to make a significant impact.
However, at the start, Sunderland's young players clearly hadn't settled down, so Southampton's link-up play resulted in a brilliant combination and a threatening shot.
If it weren't for the "veteran" Pickford's keen focus, they might already be trailing!
On the sidelines, Alonso and Alan Tate both jumped up, startled by Manolo Gabbiadini's shot.
Coach Zhao, however, remained motionless, calmly sitting in his seat.
"Everyone, sit down and relax. Since we've started them, we have to trust them. Soon, they'll adapt very quickly."
Indeed.
After withstanding Southampton's initial onslaught, Sunderland's players gradually began to adapt to the pace of the match.
Although players like Sancho and Foden were young, they were, after all, talented players.
After more than a month of hard training during the preseason, they learned advanced tactics from Coach Zhao and the coaching staff, and also learned many details of playing from experienced teammates.
For example, what to do when the game is difficult, what to do when the situation is passive, what to do if they feel nervous...
And talented players also have extremely strong learning abilities.
Moreover, on the field today, there were already veterans like Zabaleta and Cattermole.
Under their constant shouts and reminders, the young players also found their footing and began to contend with their opponents, gradually increasing the intensity of their pressing against Southampton players.
And the targeted tactics Coach Zhao had arranged before the match also began to be implemented: to cut off James Ward-Prowse's connection with other Southampton players!
Southampton began to find their attacks were not as smooth as they were at the start.
Every time James Ward-Prowse got the ball, there seemed to be Sunderland players all around him, and he could only choose to make safe passes.
But in his passing lanes, there were also opposing players guarding and intercepting the ball.
After several attempts, Southampton tried to open up the game on the flanks, using Cédric's overlapping runs to launch attacks, but they were also stopped by the tightly defending Sunderland players.
Cédric was the starting right-back for the Portugal national team, and he also helped his team win the 2016 France European Cup, so his strength was definitely very high.
But today, his several forward runs met with great resistance, and the ball was frequently stolen.
And once Sunderland regained possession, they would immediately launch a quick and urgent counter-attack.
In the 10th minute, Sunderland successfully intercepted the ball in the middle, and Rodri quickly distributed the ball to the flank. Foden dribbled past Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, but was directly pulled down from behind by Pierre-Emile Højbjerg.
The fiery Foden got up and immediately swung his arm, hitting Pierre-Emile Højbjerg's shoulder. Pierre-Emile Højbjerg pushed Foden back.
And Cattermole, who was nearby, immediately rushed over, protected Foden, and pushed Pierre-Emile Højbjerg back.
Players from both sides rushed over, and the scene suddenly became chaotic.
The referee also quickly rushed to the scene, directly giving Foden and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg a yellow card each, finally calming the incident.
"There's starting to be some tension on the field," James Jun said.
"Hehe, but this also shows that Sunderland is still very united within the team," Zhang Lu laughed, "Seeing his little brother Foden being bullied, Cattermole, the vice-captain, directly stood up for him, good."
James Jun: "Haha, yes. But Foden's breakthrough was indeed quite inspired, and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg is also a seasoned player, yet he was tricked so easily."
Zhang Lu said: "Exactly. And from the last ten minutes or so of the match, Coach Zhao's starting lineup feels like it has something. Their pressing is very aggressive, and they are very attentive to Southampton's core, James Ward-Prowse, which makes the away team play a bit disjointed, perhaps this is also why Southampton players are a bit anxious."
James Jun: "It seems so... It's indeed a bit different from Sunderland's matches last season. These attacking players are faster and have more impact."
Zhang Lu: "Exactly, including Sancho on the left flank, he even has better dribbling ability than Foden. This has also allowed Sunderland to gain an advantage during this period."
At this moment, James Jun pointed to the broadcast screen: "Yes, look, Southampton's Coach seems a bit anxious."
On the field at this time, Pellegrino had already stood in the Coach's technical area, shouting loudly at his players.
He was indeed a bit anxious.
Southampton's early advantage made him feel somewhat certain of victory, which also made him temporarily forget his doubts about Sunderland's starting lineup.
But gradually, Southampton began to find it increasingly difficult to threaten Sunderland's goal.
The game seemed to be completely controlled by Sunderland!
Many of Southampton's attacks could only develop to the vicinity of the penalty arc, and then James Ward-Prowse would find it very difficult to link up with his teammates, finally ending only with a hasty long-range shot.
On the other hand, Sunderland's young players were truly tireless runners!
There was no need to mention the young players making their debut in top-flight football, even "veterans" like Cattermole were playing very actively.
He bravely threw his entire body out multiple times, just to block James Ward-Prowse's passes!
This also greatly encouraged the entire Sunderland team, making them fight with all their might!
Now, not only James Ward-Prowse, but almost every Southampton player in possession of the ball would be swarmed by several Sunderland players, which made Southampton increasingly uncomfortable.
After 15 minutes, Sunderland seemed to have started taking over the match.
In the 16th minute, Foden cut inside and shot, the ball narrowly missing the goal.
In the 18th minute, Sancho took a long-range shot, which was caught by Southampton goalkeeper Forster.
By the 20th minute, Southampton got a rare attacking opportunity. Manolo Gabbiadini tried to dribble past Ruben Dias, but his attempt was intercepted by the opponent, who then immediately distributed the ball to the flank.
Zabaleta passed the ball to Rodri in the middle, and Rodri then passed it to Foden on the wing.
And Foden looked up and saw Haaland, who had dropped back to midfield, already starting his run, and he passed the ball without hesitation.
At this moment, Southampton's center-back Van Dijk immediately followed Haaland, simultaneously leaning his body against him!
According to his past experience, when he leaned his ninety-plus kilogram body against an opponent, nine out of ten forwards would lose their balance and thus lose control of the ball.
But Van Dijk quickly discovered that Haaland seemed to be the "tenth one" outside of those nine.
After he leaned heavily against him, it was as if he had hit a wall; Haaland remained completely motionless!
Then, Haaland powerfully nudged the ball forward and activated his sprinting mode!
Van Dijk was greatly surprised, but by the time he moved his long legs to chase, it was already too late.
Haaland's speed was also incredibly fast!
He directly dribbled the ball into the penalty area!
Southampton goalkeeper Forster quickly came out, but Haaland had already poked the ball with a first-time shot.
The ball slowly rolled between Forster's legs towards the goal behind him.
Haaland, after scoring, continued his run, jumping directly over the advertising hoardings on the sideline, and then rushed towards the fan stands.
As he ran, he kept pounding his chest with his fists, and he was roaring something unintelligible, like a gorilla in heat!
It couldn't be blamed on him being so excited.
This was, after all, only his first official match representing Sunderland.
And in such a first match, he scored his first goal!!