Chapter 161 Dogshit Luck

The media was buzzing about it, and even Chen Hero, who didn't read newspapers or watch TV, knew what they were thinking.

Didn't they just think he had stumbled upon some dogshit luck?

Alright then, Grandpa will show you grandkids whether I really did stumble upon some dogshit luck this time!

So, poor Sheffield United was in for another misfortune.

Liverpool's first league game after returning from Naples was against Sheffield United.

And it was at their home stadium.

In fact, Sheffield United had already given up hope of beating Liverpool away. They had already lost 0-5 to Liverpool at their home ground. That game completely shattered Sheffield United's spirit, and their subsequent performance fluctuated, with more losses than wins, and they quickly fell into the relegation zone, where they remain to this day. Barring any surprises, they will definitely return to the English Championship this season.

It was predictable what would happen when such a dispirited team encountered Liverpool away.

Liverpool ultimately defeated Sheffield United 4-0 at home, pushing them further into the abyss of relegation.

But the focus of this game wasn't on the score or the result.

It was on Chen Hero.

Chen Hero continued to insist on using his left foot to play in this game.

And the entire Liverpool team cooperated with him on this point.

In fact, since returning to Liverpool, Martin O'Neill had begun targeted training—how could he, as the head coach, not see the problems that the media could see?

And even clearer than the media was the fact that Chen Hero's left foot wasn't some dogshit luck, nor was it a good performance in an occasional game; he truly had the strength.

In that case, Chen Hero's left foot should be fully utilized.

Now, the whole world was familiar with and understood Chen Hero's right foot, but knew very little about his left foot. Even Naples, who knew Chen Hero best, had fallen on this, so other teams were even less likely to escape.

So, Martin O'Neill launched a special training session after returning from Naples.

Although time was tight, there was some success because of the successful experience in Naples.

It was used like this in the game against Sheffield United.

Because there was targeted training, the effect was even better than before.

At the very least, the game was smoother.

Everyone could see that Chen Hero was deliberately using his left foot to control the ball. Even when he clearly had a better chance to control the ball with his right foot, he would sacrifice it and use his left foot instead.

He was using this method to tell everyone that Chen Hero's left foot wasn't some dogshit luck, nor was it a good performance that only happened occasionally.

This was strength! This was solid, genuine strength!

In the end, Chen Hero scored two goals with his left foot in this game.

Helping the team defeat Sheffield United 4-0.

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After this game, there were fewer voices in the media questioning Chen Hero's performance as occasional or dogshit luck.

Because Chen Hero had completed two consecutive games with his left foot and performed well, scoring three goals in one game and two goals in another. Could such an outstanding performance still be described as "occasional"?

If this was all occasional, why didn't you let other players be "occasional" and see? Could they be "occasional"?

Many people who hadn't believed it before were now starting to waver.

They felt that perhaps Chen Hero really did have this comprehensive ability, but why did they not want to admit it in their hearts, and why did they feel so awkward...

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Targeted training for Chen Hero's left foot wasn't just in the first team; in Liverpool's reserve team, they also added training to cooperate with Chen Hero's left foot to the training schedule after the first team's game with Naples.

Because Clark keenly realized that the left foot might become Chen Hero's greatest weapon, as well as Liverpool's weapon to deal with other opponents.

Since the first team could use it, why couldn't the reserve team use it?

The reserve team also had to prepare early.

His idea bought the reserve team a few days. Although the time wasn't long, it was better than no preparation at all.

It turned out that he was right, because after returning from Naples, Martin O'Neill led the first team to begin a tactical transformation.

In the game against Sheffield United, the Liverpool first team also proved the effectiveness of doing so.

And next, Liverpool was going to play in the League Cup final.

This final was going to be played by the reserve team.

And Chen Hero had recently been kicking with his left foot, so this training was aligned.

Clark's prediction gave the reserve team enough time.

During this time, although it was impossible for the reserve team and Chen Hero to achieve perfect harmony, it could at least buy everyone some time and avoid being so rushed.

Even if their degree of cooperation could be improved by ten percent, it might play a crucial role in the game?

And even if they found that the left foot wouldn't work in the end, and everyone really couldn't get used to it, they could switch to the right foot that everyone was used to.

It was always better to be prepared than unprepared.

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Chen Hero had actually decided to use his left foot in the League Cup final. Since he was going to do it, he would do it thoroughly. He wanted to leave everyone speechless and unable to find any faults.

So, when training in the copy, the training instructions he gave to the reserve team were the same as the current training instructions for the first team, which was to cooperate with his left foot.

He didn't know that the reserve team had already started preparing in advance, so he just wanted to sharpen his gun before the battle...

He didn't expect the reserve team to be able to cooperate with him much at the time. If it really didn't work, he would use his personal ability to break through and score goals to win the game for the team.

After playing the game against Sheffield United, he went to the reserve team to report and train with them, only to discover that the reserve team had already started this kind of specialized training!

For a time, his confidence in winning the final grew even greater.

Seeing Chen Hero come to train with the reserve team, the reserve team players were also full of fighting spirit and high morale.

As long as they had Chen Hero, they wouldn't be afraid of Newcastle United.

They had also noticed the media hype about Chen Hero's left foot these days.

They naturally knew how powerful it would be if Chen Hero really made up for his last shortcoming, as the media said. With such a strong person joining, what did they have to worry about?

They could play to their full potential, and even if something went wrong, Chen Hero would be there.

This idea relaxed everyone.

This kind of relaxation was very important before the League Cup final.

Because a good mentality would allow the players to perform at their normal level, or even above their normal level, in the game.

But if they were too nervous, even if their level was high, they might only be able to perform at one-tenth of their usual level in the game.

With this relaxed mood, the Liverpool reserve team ushered in the League Cup final against Newcastle United.

※※※

Before the League Cup final, everyone turned their attention to the Liverpool reserve team.

Last season, Chen Hero led a reserve team to win the FA Cup. The League Cup was played by the Liverpool first team at that time. So, this was the first time the reserve team had played in the League Cup final.

What kind of answer sheet could they hand in?

Could Chen Hero's reserve team legend be staged again?

Although the Liverpool reserve team had performed quite well before, the most cruel and most attractive thing about competitive sports was that if you didn't win the championship in the end, then you were nothing, and you would soon be forgotten. All your previous efforts and all the praise you received would disappear with it.

A weak team, not favored before the game, and every game was like fighting for their lives, never giving up. This process was certainly worthy of praise and learning. But if you didn't win the championship in the end, then everyone's interest in praising and learning would only last for a few days, a week at most. After that, it would soon be forgotten.

Only when this team finally overcame many difficulties, won the championship trophy, and stood on the highest podium would they be qualified to be called "legends." Only then could they be permanently remembered, and only then would they have the qualifications to be learned by future generations.

Because everyone likes champions, fans like them, and the media likes them too. Pursuing the strong and the champion is a human instinct.

If the story of the reserve team was to be written into textbooks for everyone to learn, then obviously the ending of winning the championship would be the best. If they won the runner-up, how would you explain to the children the fact that you praised the reserve team to the skies before, but in the end they lost to their opponents? The children would question the story, and thus question the truth you want to preach. Because after working hard, sweating, crying, and even bleeding, you still failed in the end. Isn't this telling everyone that no matter how hard you try, you can't succeed? Then what's the point of working hard?

Only when the reserve team finally won the championship could the above reasoning stand, and the children would sincerely admire them, like them, and strive to use them as role models.

Because they knew from this that if you put in effort, you would be rewarded. Only when they knew that their efforts would not be in vain would they have the motivation to do it.

This was a very simple principle, but it was always misunderstood. People thought that promoting champions and gold medals was victory-only theory, which violated the spirit of sports and was not good. In fact, promoting champions and gold medals was promoting the spirit of sports.

Because the ultimate meaning of the spirit of sports was to strive to surpass oneself, challenge the limits, overcome many difficulties, and finally achieve victory.

If there was no "achieving victory" in the end, everything done before would be meaningless. No one liked to do useless work, and no one wanted to end up empty-handed.

Someone said that the most important thing in life was not triumph, but battle.

This was wrong.

The most important thing in life was to fight, and then triumph.

Chen Hero had already led the reserve team to fight. Now he had to lead the reserve team to triumph. Only then would it be complete and meaningful.