Chapter 22 Not Luck

In the subsequent games, Liverpool proved with their actions that their match against Chelsea was not an accident, nor was it luck. Chelsea was by no means the last victim.

On January 15th, in the twenty-second round of the league, Liverpool defeated Stoke City 4:1 on the road. Another high-scoring victory.

Chen Hero scored twice in the game, bringing his personal league goal tally for the season to seven.

Of course, the young Nacho would not allow the meat that had reached his mouth to be snatched away again. So he worked very hard, plus the entire Manchester United team supported him in grabbing the league's top scorer award. Even if they couldn't win Liverpool's league title, taking away the top scorer honor that Chen Hero had monopolized for eighteen seasons was also a good thing. At least it could leave such a permanent stain on Chen Hero's career.

Given the relationship between Manchester United and Liverpool, they would definitely do this without reservation.

Originally, Nacho wasn't Manchester United's number one penalty taker, but now he also began to stand in front of the penalty spot. It is said that he also underwent special training in penalties to improve his penalty accuracy.

Under such circumstances, after twenty-two rounds of league matches, Nacho's goal count rose to twenty-three. Scoring three goals in two league games was considered a very good performance, but under Chen Hero's pursuit, it still seemed not good enough. At the very least, Nacho currently did not have the qualifications or mood to smile.

※※※

In the twenty-third round, Liverpool had another away game, their opponent being Wolverhampton Wanderers. Facing this team that wasn't particularly strong, Liverpool showed no mercy.

Led by Chen Hero, Liverpool ultimately took down the Wolves with a score of 3:0.

Chen Hero scored a hat trick in the game, bringing his goal count to ten, reaching double digits.

Three games, ten goals. If this had happened to any other player, it would have caused a sensation and made that player an instant first-class star, even if he had been unknown before. But when it happened to Chen Hero, the media's general reaction was—this is too normal!

What if he's forty years old? Chen Hero has the ability!

So there weren't that many reports about him scoring ten goals in three games.

Everyone was more concerned about another thing—Chelsea's decline.

The match against Liverpool was the watershed moment for Chelsea this season.

Before that, they had been advancing triumphantly, losing only one game. They held the top spot in the standings.

But after losing by a large margin to Liverpool, Chelsea seemed to have lost their souls, lost their motivation and fighting spirit, and their performance was unsightly. After the game against Liverpool, they lost two more games in a row, already suffering a three-game losing streak.

It was clear from Chelsea's games that Chelsea's players no longer had fighting spirit or direction, and they performed like sleepwalkers on the field.

Liverpool completely scared them out of their wits.

Under such circumstances, Chelsea coach Clarke Walker once again submitted his resignation. This time, Abramovich did not try to keep him, but simply agreed to his resignation request. No media spoke out in his defense. Although Chelsea's current situation was not entirely of his making, someone had to be responsible for it.

In fact, Walker's resignation was not because he felt he needed to be responsible for Chelsea's predicament, but purely because he keenly realized that Chelsea could no longer win the league title, because this team had been completely defeated and could no longer get up. Even if he stayed here, he would only be wasting time, and on the contrary, he might leave a stain on his coaching career, so he simply resigned主动 (zhudong - actively, voluntarily), and could also leave others with an impression of being "responsible."

Whoever wants to deal with this mess can deal with it!

Chelsea, due to continuous failures, had fallen from the top of the league, and now the team ranked first in the league was last season's league champion, Arsenal.

A team that was all-powerful in the first half of the season fell sharply because of a crushing defeat to Liverpool.

Such a huge contrast made people sigh at the power of Liverpool and Chen Hero—they had dealt with an opponent so lightly.

"...This Liverpool team with Chen Hero is like a touchstone for the championship. Only teams that can safely get through their test are qualified to compete for the championship. Teams like Chelsea, who lose all their fighting spirit after losing to Liverpool, have no way to be the last to laugh in the fierce championship battle. Their success in the first half of the season was only because the pressure was too small. When it comes to the end of the season, when everyone is sprinting to compete for the championship, Chelsea's psychological quality will collapse sooner or later..."

Chelsea's downfall made many other teams feel frightened, especially those who also planned to compete for the championship. They had not yet played against Liverpool.

In the next half of the season, Liverpool would play against them one by one.

Including those teams ranked above Liverpool.

This was also why Liverpool seemed so confident that they could win the league title.

Because these games were worth six points, and their impact was not limited to just one game. This kind of direct confrontation not only allowed them to defeat their opponents and get three points, but also to destroy their morale. Look at Chelsea, that was a lesson from the past.

※※※

Throughout the entire month of January, Liverpool played four league games, and they won all four games.

Based on this performance, Liverpool was selected as the best team in January, Gerrard was selected as the best coach in January, and Chen Hero, who returned from a nine-month suspension, was selected as the best player in January.

So many honors illustrated one thing—Chen Hero's comeback was so successful!

After January, there were no more voices in the media questioning Chen Hero's declining form.

And that Newman Geith had never talked about Chen Hero again. It was as if he was not a supporter of Chen Hero at all—he was indeed not a supporter of Chen Hero. He could not cheer for Chen Hero's successful comeback, so the best thing to do was to shut up.

Perhaps as time went by, people would gradually forget his previous remarks and performances. When that time came, no one would say anything about him even if he jumped out again.

But this was just wishful thinking.

Because during this time, the media continued to come to his door, hoping that he would comment on Chen Hero's performance.

Every time Liverpool played, and Chen Hero performed well and scored many goals, Newman Geith would receive many phone calls from media reporters asking him, as a supporter of Chen Hero, what he thought of Chen Hero's performance.

Not only that, but Chen Hero would constantly remind everyone not to forget that Newman Geith.

After scoring a goal in the game, he would lift up his jersey to reveal a t-shirt with words written on it, asking Newman Geith: "Mr. Newman Geith, is this decline in form?"

After the game, when being interviewed by reporters, his first sentence was: "Has Newman Geith come?"

After receiving a negative answer, he asked the reporters to pass on a message for him: "Okay, please ask Mr. Newman Geith for me, how much has my form declined in this state?"

Then there would be a burst of laughter among the reporters.

It could be said that Chen Hero had a hand in every phone call Newman Geith received after each game.

Under such circumstances, it seemed very difficult for Newman Geith to make everyone forget about him and what he had said.

Moreover, he could not respond to Chen Hero's ridicule and provocation, because he was now wholeheartedly pretending to be a grandson. As soon as he opened his mouth, he would have pretended for nothing, and suffered this anger for nothing.

He could only endure humiliation and swallow his anger, completely pretending, hoping that one day Chen Hero would lose interest in him, and others would no longer remember his embarrassment. That would be the time for his comeback.

But Newman Geith obviously underestimated Chen Hero's pettiness.

He thought that pretending to be a grandson for a month would make Chen Hero lose interest in him?

What wishful thinking!

Besides scoring goals, Chen Hero's greatest strength was holding grudges.

At the beginning, Newman Geith disgusted Chen Hero to death with his "I'm doing this for your own good" attitude. So now he wouldn't stop until he disgusted Newman Geith to death.

His nightmare was far from over; it had only just begun.

※※※

At the end of January, Chen Hero was awarded the Player of the Month trophy.

Holding the trophy, he said to the reporters who interviewed him: "I have won the Player of the Month many times. But this time it is especially meaningful to me. Because many people have said before that I am no longer good enough. How could a forty-year-old guy still be in shape after being suspended for nine months?"

Chen Hero shook the trophy in his hand and smiled triumphantly: "This is just the beginning. Matthews was able to win the European Ballon d'Or at the age of forty-one, and I think I can too!"

The "Matthews" that Chen Hero mentioned was "Stanley Matthews," the first winner of the European Ballon d'Or.

At the time when he won the European Ballon d'Or, he was already forty-one years old. He was a legendary figure in English football and even European football. He retired at the age of fifty.

So Chen Hero playing football at the age of forty was not unprecedented.

But today's professional leagues are much more intense and cruel than the football matches of Stanley Matthews' era. Today's professional players have to constantly squeeze their bodies from the age of eighteen, and premature overdraw and too many games ruin their bodies, so many players begin to decline uncontrollably after the age of thirty-two.

Objectively speaking, Chen Hero's continuing to play football at the age of forty is much more difficult than Stanley Matthews' playing football at the age of forty.

But for awards...

Since Platini re-established a UEFA Ballon d'Or to compete with the FIFA Ballon d'Or, this award, which represents the highest honor in European football, is awarded every year at the end of August. It is very difficult for Chen Hero to win the European Ballon d'Or like Stanley Matthews.

The selection criteria for the UEFA Ballon d'Or are based on the player's performance in the just-concluded season. In this way, Chen Hero has a natural disadvantage, that is, Chen Hero's first half of the season was in a suspended state and he didn't play a single game. He has to use the performance of half a season to compete with players who played a full season.

The difficulty of this is conceivable.

If the judges of the UEFA Ballon d'Or were not all authoritative reporters and experts from the media, many people would think that Chen Hero had no chance at all.

Now, only if he performs particularly brilliantly and exceptionally well in the second half of the season, will he have a chance to win the UEFA Ballon d'Or.

In fact, Chen Hero has won the UEFA Ballon d'Or for more than ten consecutive years. Logically speaking, this award is like Chinese cabbage to him and should not be attractive at all.

But after experiencing a nine-month suspension, winning another European Ballon d'Or would be particularly meaningful.

This is a good way for Chen Hero to prove that he is not old at all.

The reporters became excited after hearing what Chen Hero said.

They knew that Chen Hero, who would never let them down, had once again provided them with a gimmick that could be hyped for a long time!