Chapter 135 The Power of Hatred

The national team match day was over, and the international players returned to their respective clubs one after another. Martin O'Neill could finally gather his men to practice tactics.

He was also preparing for the next two tough battles.

But if everyone knew that he was treating these two teams as strong enemies to prepare for, many people would probably laugh their heads off.

Manchester City may be considered a strong enemy to other teams, but standing in front of Liverpool, even they themselves probably don't have the confidence to say that they are Liverpool's strong enemy—has anyone seen a "strong enemy" being thrashed 1:5 by Liverpool at their own home ground? Has anyone seen a "strong enemy" being reversed 4:3 by Liverpool at their own home ground? Has anyone seen a "strong enemy" that hasn't won against Liverpool in the three seasons so far?

So to say they are Liverpool's strong enemy...even the thickest-skinned Manchester City fans wouldn't be able to say that.

What about Everton?

They can't be tough in front of Liverpool either.

Some media outlets had said before that the Merseyside derby had become the most boring and predictable city derby in the world. The most popular derby in England has now developed into a one-sided affair with Liverpool's strength. Even many Everton fans have begun to learn to accept this fact—the results of the two city derbies really can't be used as a basis for assessing a team's performance in a season. The derby战 (derby battles) have to be separated from the league. But it's not to say that the derby战 (derby battles) are more important than the league. On the contrary, now the league is more important than the derby战 (derby battles)...

Perhaps this fact will make many Everton fans very unhappy, but that's the reality. Whether they like it or not, they have to accept this fact.

But the outside world can laugh at Manchester City and Everton for no longer being a match for Liverpool, but Martin O'Neill can't think that way. He even has to imagine his opponents as very powerful, because he is a head coach, and he himself must not underestimate the enemy. Liverpool had been tied by Sunderland, and Manchester City and Everton are stronger than Sunderland, right?

So it's always right to be careful.

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On November 21st, the first game of the thirteenth round of the league kicked off between Liverpool and Manchester City.

It was rare for the only strong vs. strong match of this round to be arranged as the first game. Generally, it would be arranged as the last game, especially at eight or nine o'clock in the evening, which would be in line with the interests of television broadcasts, because that is the golden time for television broadcasts.

Perhaps, judging from this time arrangement, even the TV station doesn't think this game is the "highlight of the round"...

Although the outside world doesn't think Manchester City will be Liverpool's opponent, Manchester City still exchanged fighting words with Liverpool before the game.

Even knowing that this trip to Anfield is fraught with danger, Manchester City is unwilling to admit defeat in front of Liverpool, and their mouths are still very tough.

This is the power of hatred.

Just like when Barcelona was dominating La Liga, Real Madrid knew they were no match, but they were still unwilling to admit defeat verbally. Even if they were humiliated by the opponent in the game, they absolutely couldn't back down before the game. Anyone who chickened out would be waiting to be kicked out.

In football games, you can lose anything but momentum. You can lose people and you can lose the ball, but you can't lose the formation!

Manchester City captain, center back, and main warrior for defending Chen Hero, Kompany, jumped out to attack Chen Hero.

"Yes, he can score a lot of goals, but so what if he scores more goals? In my heart, his status will never be as good as players like Messi! Messi has both strength and humility. Such players are the real number one star in the world!" the Manchester City captain said in an interview.

Chen Hero responded: "I'm really worried about Messi being惦记 (dianji - remembered) by Kompany... Actually, what I want to say is, the gap between you two is too big, it's really not suitable..."

Lavezzi: "I played with him in Napoli, and I have to say that his character is really not that good! Relying on the fact that he is deeply loved by the team owner, he not only drove me away, but also squeezed out Coach Reja, who made great contributions to Napoli's promotion! Such a person can only rely on support from higher-ups wherever he goes..."

It has to be said that Manchester City really has the genes of Chen Hero's nemesis, because they always make some moves that go against Chen Hero.

Before, it was trying to protect Richards, and then Richards was sent away. This summer, they bought Argentine Lavezzi from Juventus, who had been at odds with Chen Hero in Napoli...

They just had to disgust Chen Hero to death.

Lavezzi, who was once defeated by Chen Hero, jumped out to dredge up old grudges, and Chen Hero didn't hold back and retorted.

"Being able to have a good relationship with the higher-ups shows that I have ability. Since when did having a bad relationship become an advantage, worth being complacent about and talking about everywhere? The fact is that after he left, Napoli won many championships, but when he was here, they didn't win a single championship."

Manchester City coach Mancini also stood up to express his dissatisfaction with Chen Hero: "A player should first focus on things on the football field. Chen Hero spends too much energy off the field."

Chen Hero immediately retorted: "A head coach should first focus on things on the football field, otherwise why hasn't he won the league championship for three consecutive years?"

These words were really vicious, simply using a knife to open Mancini's wound, and then sprinkle a handful of salt, a handful of cumin, and a handful of chili powder on it...

Before this game, the other Liverpool players were required not to participate in the war of words, leaving the battlefield to Chen Hero so that he could fully display his ability to argue against everyone.

Chen Hero lived up to expectations, firmly attracting all the hatred of Manchester City to himself, without affecting any other Liverpool players.

While Chen Hero was taking on the entire Manchester City team alone, Liverpool players could prepare for the game with peace of mind. Although a lot of reporters surrounded Melwood, these people were all coming for Chen Hero, unless you couldn't stand the loneliness and had to jump out and actively attract firepower—in the jargon, this behavior is called "ot" (over taunt).

Fortunately, Chen Hero, as the team's mt (main tank) and team leader, has a high reputation, and no one is maliciously ot (over taunting) at present.

In this way, while fighting a war of words, they ushered in the game against Manchester City.

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In the starting lineups announced by both sides before the game, Lavezzi from Manchester City was impressively listed.

Everyone was waiting to see a good show.

From the pre-match handshake, everyone could already see how strong the gunpowder smell between the two people was—Lavezzi directly turned a blind eye to Chen Hero, and Chen Hero didn't intend to shake hands with him at all.

One person walked straight past Chen Hero, as if the person in front of him was a puff of air.

The other person's hands were naturally hanging on both sides of his body, with no intention of raising them to shake hands with the other party.

The reporters in the media seats were immediately excited: "It seems that the grievances between Lavezzi and Chen Hero are no less than those between Chen Hero and Richards!"

"Great! After Richards left, I was still racking my brains about how to write about the game between Liverpool and Manchester City! Now I'm not afraid, we have a new topic!"

"Lavezzi decisively took over the mantle left by Richards and fought Chen Hero to the end! The future games between these two teams will be interesting... I now hope that the Argentine can stay in Manchester City for a few more seasons!"

The commentator was also very excited to see this scene: "Manchester City has finally solemnly launched their second person to disgust Chen Hero—Lavezzi!!"

"The two people are fighting before the game has even started, I don't know what it will be like when the game starts!"

For a time, commentators, reporters, and fans in the stands and viewers in front of the TV, everyone began to look forward to a good show.

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But it's not quite what everyone expected...

For those who want to see a good show, this is definitely not a good show.

Liverpool can be tied by Sunderland, and they can also be tied by Newcastle, no problem, but when they meet a team from Manchester, they must win.

The hatred between Liverpool and Manchester United is related to the two cities. And in the city of Manchester, there is more than just one team. It can even be said that, in a sense, Manchester City is more representative of this city, because they are the native owners of this city, and Manchester United is just an outsider. Back then, Newton Heath was struggling and almost couldn't survive. In the end, they had enough of the Manchester City stars, and then came to Manchester to grab territory from Manchester City, so Manchester City's hatred for Manchester United is also quite high.

At the same time, it can also be explained that Manchester City is the true representative of Manchester.

The grievances between Liverpool and Manchester, falling on the two teams of Liverpool and Manchester City, are not wronged at all.

Now Liverpool is riding high, in good shape, and how can they lose to Manchester City at home?

They have taken down even Manchester United at home, how can they lose to Manchester City?

As soon as the game started, Liverpool launched a blitz-like offensive, which is very much in line with Liverpool's characteristics—抢攻 (qiang gong - blitz)!

All of Liverpool's tactics are formulated around scoring goals quickly, so Liverpool's offense after the start is very simple. They rarely make small-scale horizontal and backward passes. If there are horizontal passes, they are mostly large-scale long passes, making full use of the width of the field to mobilize the opponent's defense.

There are a lot of through balls, whether from Gotze's feet, or from Gerrard's feet, or from other players, they are required to pass through balls as much as possible.

Only such balls can hit the opponent's goal in the fastest and most direct way, creating the most shooting opportunities for Chen Hero.

Of course, such tactics also have shortcomings, that is, the success rate is not high, and many through balls are wasted.

This is also why Martin O'Neill pursued Gotze Le. In his opinion, Gotze is the midfielder who can complete the through ball task. In this way, Gerrard can be freed up, allowing Gerrard to concentrate on defense, and he and Inler can combine to form a midfield iron gate. Although Gerrard is getting older and his physical strength is not as good as before, he is experienced, and his positioning is becoming more and more sophisticated when defending. If physical strength is not as good as before, then concentrate on defense and less offense. If only defending, Gerrard is still a world-class midfielder.

Plus an Inler, Liverpool's midfield defensive interception ability is actually quite strong.

Another way to ensure the success rate of through balls is not to pass the empty space, but to pass it to Chen Hero's feet.

Chen Hero's back-to-goal singles skills are excellent. Even if he is facing away from the opponent's goal, if the ball falls at his feet, he has a way to threaten the opponent's goal.

With so many guarantees, this is why Liverpool's 抢攻 (qiang gong - blitz) tactics are always successful...

This game is also the same.

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