Chapter 62 Straightforward

As the final whistle blew, Sven Helden stood up from the home team's bench, walked over to the visiting team's bench, and shook hands with Leicester Fortress manager Matthew Harrald.

Then he turned and walked toward the player tunnel, choosing not to stay on the pitch to celebrate this 3-0 victory with his players.

Throughout the entire process, there was no noticeable change in his facial expression—he looked neither happy nor unhappy...

People were gradually getting used to Sven Helden's poker-faced style.

Even during matches, when Solfor United scored, a smile would never appear on his face; it remained the same stern expression.

However, watching the hurriedly departing Helden, commentator Conor Cawley joked, "Let's hope Mr. Helden is ready with his answers, because the reporters have been waiting all day!"

His co-commentator for this match was Solfor United legend Marvin Brook.

Hearing Cawley say this, Brook gave a wry smile. "If I were Helden, I would congratulate and thank Wang. After all, his hat-trick helped us move up one spot in the league table..."

Because Tyne had defeated the Scousers 3-2 at home yesterday, and Solfor United had comfortably beaten Leicester Fortress 3-0 at home today, Solfor United had surpassed the Scousers in the standings.

Currently, Solfor United sat in third place with forty-six points, while the Scousers dropped to fourth with forty-five points.

In a sense, Wang Lie had indeed helped Solfor United.

If not for the conflict between the two parties, this could even have been passed down as a romantic tale in football: the departed legend still held his boyhood club close to his heart, and though he could no longer wear the red shirt to fight for them, he struck down his former club's arch-rivals on another pitch, contributing to his team's battle for the championship... This was the tradition of Solfor United, the cultural heritage of England's most successful powerhouse!

Yet, because Wang Lie had parted ways with Solfor United on bad terms, this hat-trick not only failed to make Solfor United proud, but instead made things rather awkward.

For instance, former Solfor United legend Marvin Brook, who had played for the club for twelve years and won seven championships alongside Wang Lie, was currently in a very awkward position.

Because when Wang Lie left Solfor United, Brook had criticized him for publishing an open letter accusing the club, viewing it as a sign of disrespect toward the institution. Consequently, he was branded an enemy by Wang Lie's fanbase.

Therefore, after Wang Lie completed his hat-trick, Brook's social media comment section was flooded.

Brook felt aggrieved: "I only criticized Wang for disrespecting the club; I never said he wasn't a good player! So using Wang's hat-trick to curse me out, aren't you yelling at the wrong person?"

Hearing Brook's remark, Conor Cawley joked, "Helden will probably congratulate Wang, but he won't thank him. Mind you, if he hadn't led the team to win this match today, it wouldn't have mattered even if the Scousers lost..."

***

"I am very glad to see Wang performing well after leaving Solfor United. As I have said, I have always respected him..."

Sven Helden sat at the press conference podium, answering reporters' questions about Wang Lie's hat-trick with a stern expression.

"Those who think I possess such a dark mindset that I wouldn't want to see Wang succeed are simply projecting their own traits onto me... I haven't watched that match yet, but we have recorded it. After finishing today's match, I will analyze the match footage with the coaching staff... So I don't know how he completed his hat-trick, but regardless, I congratulate him on his performance at Tyne..."

"I am very glad we secured a fine victory at home. The players executed our pre-match tactics well and showcased the results of our work on the training ground over the past week..."

"Do we have hope of winning the title? I cannot say, because the season is not yet over, but we will give our all to fight for victory in every single match. Our primary goal right now is to return to the Champions League. After three seasons away from the Champions League, being able to return to this highest level of competition is extremely important for a powerhouse like Solfor United..."

"Harris scored two goals in the match... Yes, his form is exceptionally good. Is it related to Wang? No, I think saying that is disrespectful to Harris. Harris's goals are the result of his own hard work..."

...

Guo Xuequan kept his arm raised, but his name was not called.

Not just him, but all the Chinese reporters present were denied the right to ask questions.

Keep in mind that many Chinese journalists had attended this match, all waiting to question Helden at the post-match press conference...

Yet by the time Helden decided to conclude the press conference and stood up to leave, not a single one of them had been given the opportunity to ask a question.

Guo Xuequan could no longer contain his frustration. He stood up and protested loudly in English: "I do not recall Solfor United being a racially discriminatory club, so why is it that throughout this entire press conference, not a single Chinese journalist has been given the chance to ask a question?"

The atmosphere in the media auditorium suddenly turned heavy.

The accusation of "racial discrimination" was extremely grave, and no one wanted to be saddled with such a charge.

Therefore, when Guo Xuequan said this, Helden, who had been about to leave, stopped in his tracks, sat back down in his chair, and said to the Solfor United press officer, "Just let him ask."

Thus, Guo Xuequan obtained the right to ask a question as the representative of all the Chinese journalists present.

"Mr. Helden, why is it that Wang Lie has managed to score five goals and contribute one assist in three matches for Tyne, and even scored a hat-trick yesterday? Yet at Solfor United, across all competitions in half a season, he only accumulated three hundred and forty-two minutes of playing time and a single goal?"

After asking, Guo Xuequan stared directly at Helden.

Hearing this provocative question, Helden did not fly into a rage. Instead, he twisted his mouth into a slight smirk, shook his head, and said, "So you used such a serious accusation just to ask such a foolish question?"

"This is not foolish at all, Mr. Helden. I believe many people, including myself, want to know the answer: why is there such a massive difference between Wang Lie's performance during his half-season at Solfor United and his three matches at Tyne?"

Sitting next to Guo Xuequan, Liu Zhong, along with the other Chinese journalists present, began to chime in, voicing their support for Guo Xuequan:

"Yes! Exactly! Please answer, Mr. Helden!"

The journalists from Britain, Spain, and various other countries also looked toward Helden with expectant gazes.

Facing these gazes, Helden replied, "Different teams employ different tactics, and different tactics have different emphases. Therefore, Wang's performance at Tyne cannot be extrapolated to his performance at Solfor United. I am happy for Wang's performance at Tyne, but that does not mean he should have remained at Solfor United. On the contrary, doesn't this precisely prove that he should not have stayed at Solfor United? Solfor United is a powerhouse, and our areas of focus are somewhat different..."

He shrugged and spread his hands, implying: "How can a grand powerhouse like Solfor United be compared to a relegation-threatened team like Tyne? Being able to meet the demands of a relegation-fighting team does not mean he can meet the demands of a powerhouse club."

How could Guo Xuequan fail to catch Helden's subtext?

He retorted, "But Wang Lie led a team inferior in strength to Solfor United and defeated the Scousers. Doesn't that prove anything?"

Helden shook his head: "Every team has a different mindset when facing different opponents..."

Seeing that Guo Xuequan seemed about to speak further, Helden did not simply raise his hand to signal him to shut up this time: "You have asked enough questions."

***

Then he raised three fingers and told all the reporters: "Solfor United currently ranks third in the league, and I believe that alone is enough to explain everything."

With that, he stopped taking further questions and stood up to leave decisively.

***

"What do you think of Helden's remarks?"

He Zhengyong asked Wang Lie, who was standing opposite him.

"Evading the heavy while taking the light, dodging the substance, and beating around the bush—he just refused to face the question directly. Exactly like him, entirely fake," Wang Lie gave his evaluation very directly, seemingly unconcerned that these words would soon find their way into the hands of media reporters.

He Zhengyong smiled slightly: "You are certainly straightforward."

"I have always been like this, Coach He, you should know that," Wang Lie said.

Recalling what Wang Lie had said when they first met earlier, He Zhengyong nodded.

When the two met just now, Wang Lie had shaken his hand while directly asking, "Coach He, you watched the match the day before yesterday, what are your thoughts?"

It was so direct that He Zhengyong hadn't even known how to respond.

After being stunned for a moment, he honestly replied, "I have many thoughts, too many to explain in a sentence or two."

He wasn't lying to Wang Lie; he truly had many thoughts, some of which were even mutually contradictory.

Wang Lie didn't press further, simply nodding, and that topic was temporarily set aside.

Then they moved on to the topic of Helden, and He Zhengyong received Wang Lie's very direct appraisal of the manager.

However, his trip to Tyne's training ground today wasn't to ask for Wang Lie's opinion on Helden.

On one hand, he came to observe Wang Lie's training at the club and understand his daily routine.

On the other hand, he came to communicate directly with Wang Lie to avoid mutual guesswork between the two.

Communication is the foundation to ensure misjudgment does not occur.

As the head coach of the Chinese national team, his ultimate goal was still to ensure his team performed well, rather than blindly taking sides like those extreme online fan clubs.

"I've already spoken with McNeil. He said the tactical setup used in the match the day before yesterday will likely be continued. But as I recall, you never played like that before, did you? Back when you were younger and playing as a winger, your defensive tracking and movement were primarily restricted to the flanks. Later, as you grew older, you were gradually fixed in the center-forward position as the ultimate finisher right at the front... Now, you drop deep from central areas; sometimes you are the attacking finisher, and other times you are the playmaker. Just like the second goal in that match the day before yesterday, you were both the initiator and the finisher of the attack... Was this your own initiative, or was it arranged by the manager?"

He Zhengyong laid out his doubts.

This was his primary purpose for coming to communicate face-to-face with Wang Lie this time.

"It was Sam's vision. I had previously brought up an idea to him, but it wasn't quite like this..."

Wang Lie recounted his tactical proposal to McNeil word for word to He Zhengyong.

He Zhengyong nodded as he listened, and when Wang Lie finished, he commented, "Your suggestion was still to use yourself as a traditional center-forward. McNeil's setup leaves your positioning rather ambiguous, but demands much more from you—making you far more comprehensive..."

At this, he frowned, fell into deep thought for a moment, and continued, "I just feel a sense of incongruity... McNeil's idea actually doesn't fit the positioning you've had over the past few years. Meanwhile, the suggestion you gave him sounds completely reasonable. Yet in actual match performance, you truly look much more comfortable and fluid within his tactical system..."

Wang Lie was slightly surprised by the national team coach's acuity, as Coach He might have inadvertently touched upon the truth.

The reason he looked so comfortable and fluid in a tactical system that didn't quite match his physical condition and age was perhaps because his physical functions were genuinely younger than his actual age...

Coach He didn't know why this was the case, since he hadn't been training alongside him.

However, Sam McNeil lived and breathed alongside him every day. It had already been a month since Wang Lie arrived at Tyne. McNeil could not possibly be unaware of what Wang Lie's performance in daily training and various physical examinations and fitness tests had been over this past month.

This tactical setup of his seemed to demand things that didn't quite match Wang Lie's age.

McNeil might have doubted whether doing this would actually work.

Yet daily training sessions had given him the confidence, ultimately leading him to decide to adopt this tactical setup.

"Because there were many unresolved issues in my mind, I came to observe your training to see if I could glean something from it..."

Wang Lie chuckled. "Why go through all that trouble, Coach He? If you just recall me directly to the national team, wouldn't you be able to understand my condition through training?"

He Zhengyong laughed along. "For the World Asian Qualifiers this coming March, I do intend to recall you. If I didn't call you up when you're in this kind of form, then I might as well quit being the national team coach."

Wang Lie smiled warmly and went straight to the point: "Then how does Coach He plan to arrange things for me and little Chi?"

Since Wang Lie was being so direct, He Zhengyong stopped putting on airs in front of him and let out a long sigh: "I haven't figured it out yet."

Then he asked Wang Lie, "What did you think of Chi Zhen's performance in the match the day before yesterday?"

Wang Lie spoke the truth: "Very good. The media giving him the highest rating on the Scousers' side after the match was justified."

Then he added, "If not for me, he probably would have been the Man of the Match."

He Zhengyong nodded in agreement. "That's precisely why this is so difficult... Wang Lie, since you're being straightforward, I won't play any political games with you either. Let me be blunt: ever since I took over the national team, my primary task has been completing the team's generational handover. I've worked on this task for nearly two years now, and I've finally achieved some results. Now your form has picked up, but I cannot simply toss away the work of the past two years and start over from scratch. I cannot be responsible for you alone; I must be responsible for the national team as a collective."

To He Zhengyong's surprise, this time Wang Lie did not push him for a definitive answer, but simply nodded: "I understand you, Coach He."

He Zhengyong looked at Wang Lie in astonishment.

He wasn't meeting Wang Lie for the first time, nor was he coaching him for the first time. He knew Wang Lie's personality, temper, and behavioral style all too well.

If Wang Lie were this easy to reason with, why had He Zhengyong been losing more and more hair over the past year and a half as national team coach? And why were there always rumors circulating in the outside world about bad blood between him and Wang Lie?

Because those weren't rumors.

The relationship between Wang Lie and him genuinely wasn't good.

Seeing the change in Coach He's expression, Wang Lie could more or less guess why he looked that way.

Sure enough, the time traveler was right... The side effects of the "Extraordinary Heart" had truly affected him and the people around him.

Now, without that "Extraordinary Heart," he was actually able to speak so naturally from another person's perspective.

He Zhengyong had no idea that such a fantastical reason lay behind Wang Lie's attitude shift.

He simply assumed that after tasting all the cold realities of the world at Solfor United during the first half of the season, Wang Lie had undergone some changes—such things were quite common and not some incomprehensible "out-of-character" breakdown.

Just as He Zhengyong was marveling at Wang Lie's change in temperament, Wang Lie continued:

"I understand you, Coach He. Based on just one or two matches, it's indeed hard for you to make that kind of decision. No problem, from now until the World Cup next year, there's still about a year and four months. During this time, I will use my performances to help dispel your worries and help you make a firm decision sooner."

Hearing these words with that distinct "Wang Lie flavor," He Zhengyong smiled—Ah, sure enough, Wang Lie was still Wang Lie...

Those who liked him praised his dominance, while those who hated him cursed his tyranny.

Yet whether it was dominance or tyranny, He Zhengyong didn't care.

He was the national team head coach, not a fan club leader.

He only cared whether Wang Lie could turn his words into reality.

He smiled and nodded: "Alright, then I'll wait and see."

With that topic concluded, Wang Lie asked He Zhengyong, "Are you planning to head straight back now, Coach He?"

He Zhengyong shook his head. "I still need to make a trip to Liverpool to talk to little Chi. I have to keep the scales balanced..."

He spread his hands and made a gesture of balancing two buckets on a yoke.

"Well... Actually, I think Coach He could stay there until the weekend."

"Because of the 'North-West Derby' this weekend?" He Zhengyong asked.

Wang Lie nodded. "You can observe little Chi's performance then."

"I'd love to, but my business trip budget is limited. Besides, there are matters back 'home' to attend to."

The "home" He Zhengyong referred to certainly wasn't his own small household, but the national team—he was accustomed to calling the national team "home" externally.

When there were matters at home, it meant there were matters concerning the national team.

"Even if I'm back in China, I'll definitely stream that match live. Still, I'm quite surprised you'd say something like that..."

Wang Lie shook his head. "He is not my competitor."

He Zhengyong nodded thoughtfully, then prepared to take his leave.

Before leaving, he took out his phone and made a request to Wang Lie: "Could you have someone take a group photo of us?"

Wang Lie found it strange—Coach He wasn't his fan, so why request a photo together?

So he asked, "Can't we just take a selfie?"

He made a gesture of holding a phone for a selfie.

He Zhengyong shook his head. "That isn't formal enough. I plan to give the photo to the national team's official social media admin and have them post it on Weibo to prove that I actually came to chat with you."

Wang Lie didn't know whether to laugh or cry, never expecting such a reason...

"Alright, I'll go find someone..."

Wang Lie quickly called Veltini over and asked his little fanboy to take a photo of him and Coach He.

"Do we need to strike any poses?" Wang Lie thoughtfully asked the coach.

He Zhengyong held out his hand toward Wang Lie: "Let's shake hands again."

"Alright." Wang Lie extended his hand.

The two men shook hands, and at the same time, Veltini captured the moment.

Fearing he might not have taken a good shot, he took a couple more before finally returning the phone to Wang Lie.

As Wang Lie thanked Veltini, he handed the phone over to the coach.

He Zhengyong looked down at the photos in the album and nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, it's got that exact feel to it."

He put his phone away and extended his hand to Wang Lie once more. This was their third handshake of this meeting.

"Leaving aside my identity as the national team coach, simply from the perspective of a Chinese football man, I am very glad you managed to pull yourself out of the situation from the first half of the season."

Wang Lie keenly caught the keyword. He grasped the coach's hand and asked directly, "So as the national team coach, you aren't happy with my current form?"

He Zhengyong shook Wang Lie's hand up and down with a wry smile: "It's not that I'm unhappy, it's a headache, a massive headache! Wang Lie, you've handed me... a colossal problem!"

Wang Lie looked into his eyes, his attitude sincere and his tone dominant: "Coach He, trust me. When the World Cup comes around next year, this will be the problem you hand to our opponents."