Chapter 1 Liverpool's Discontent

Liverpool was very dissatisfied with the English FA's punishment. They believed they were right. Chen Hero's goal was not offside, and the penalty should not have been called in the first place.

They lost the chance for a ten-game winning streak against Everton entirely because of the referee, and they couldn't accept that.

What's wrong with us complaining a couple of times? What did we say wrong? The FA wants to punish us. Is this the right thing to do?

Although we should respect the referee, there was clearly a problem that caused a drastic change in the outcome of the game. They didn't even admit they made a mistake, and even wanted to give us a yellow card... Why should we respect a referee like that?

Damn, not punching him in the face is respecting him enough!

Martin O'Neill also realized the impact the referee's decisions and the English FA's punishment had on the players.

For him, this was actually a good thing.

Because he could take this opportunity to stir up the players' feelings of resentment, so they could still beat their opponents in the upcoming games, even without him.

So during training, he used this opportunity to give everyone a pep talk, telling them that there were people who didn't want Liverpool to win, people who wanted to pull Liverpool down from the league championship throne.

"...They don't have the strength on the field, they can't do it. So they can only think of ways from outside of football... Everyone saw how we didn't win that derby. I can tell you that this kind of thing will only happen more and more often, definitely not less!"

In fact, Martin O'Neill wasn't sure if this was really the case, but that didn't stop him from using it to brainwash the players.

What the truth was didn't matter, what mattered was being able to use this to inspire the players' fighting spirit, so they would be invincible.

"But they are destined to fail! Whether it's on the field or off the field, they will fail! Because we are the mighty Liverpool, we are not afraid of any threats. Even a team like Barcelona has lost to us, and all other conspiracies will be exposed in the face of our absolute strength! They think they can stop us like this? Then let them wait and see a good show!"

These words really made the players' blood boil.

Everyone was upset with the FA right now, and this conspiracy theory was very much to their liking. When the coach said this, they naturally believed it without a doubt.

Chen Hero saw that the boss was able to come up with this method, and his evaluation of Martin O'Neill suddenly improved again.

He previously thought that Martin O'Neill was just trying to protect him, but now it seemed that it wasn't just about protecting him. This old fox was maximizing the effect of his ranting at the referee...

This way, even if he couldn't coach for two games, it wouldn't have any adverse effect on the team's fighting ability.

He was impressed by this usually cautious coach.

※※※

Liverpool Football Club appealed to the FA, but they were not appealing the matter of Martin O'Neill being banned for two games. They made no indication regarding the FA's fine for Martin O'Neill.

On the surface, it looked as if Liverpool Football Club didn't support the coach at all.

But in reality, this was a request made by Martin O'Neill himself.

Appealing almost certainly wouldn't result in a successful reversal, and instead could lead to more games being banned for malicious appeals, which would be too much of a loss.

In any case, the next games were one league game and one FA Cup game. It wasn't a match against Manchester United, so it didn't matter if he wasn't there.

Besides, these players had been inspired by him with endless fighting spirit, so there was nothing to worry about.

※※※

Martin O'Neill's first game under suspension was Liverpool's away game against Newcastle United.

Before this game, the results of the English FA Disciplinary Committee's investigation finally came out.

The committee admitted that the referee James did make relatively serious mistakes in the Liverpool-Everton game, so the referee committee banned James for six games—that is, he would not be allowed to officiate in the next six Premier League games.

This punishment could be described as insignificant...

It really was just a simple explanation to Liverpool.

Naturally, Liverpool Football Club was not satisfied with this result.

They immediately expressed their strong dissatisfaction with the result and filed an appeal.

They demanded severe punishment for referee James, at least banning him from officiating Premier League games this season.

In fact, they didn't really want to do anything to that referee named James, nor did they want to ruin his career. It's just that if there really were to be a lot of incidents targeting Liverpool in the future, then Liverpool Football Club would have to prepare in advance. They absolutely couldn't wait until people were bullying them before making a decision.

This tough stance was to tell those ill-intentioned enemies lurking in the dark—we Liverpool are not to be trifled with!

If they had similar plans in the future, they would have to be prepared to bear the brunt of Liverpool's anger, and see if they had the determination and ability to bear it.

This wouldn't completely eliminate it, but at least it could scare off a large number of people who wanted to fish in troubled waters.

※※※

Although he couldn't coach the game on-site, Martin O'Neill still followed the team north to face Newcastle United.

He had already arranged the specific tactics in the previous training sessions. In fact, going there was just for him to watch the game in the box. At most, he could say a few words to everyone at noon during the halftime break.

Basically, he couldn't help much.

The protagonists of this game were the players, especially Chen Hero.

Chen Hero was also holding back a bellyful of fire.

He wanted to show those people that just because they got their coach up into the stands, they wouldn't be able to stop Liverpool from advancing.

The Red Army's iron hooves would trample over all obstacles and crush them all!

Anyone who dared to stop them was a pathetic wretch trying to go against history!

※※※

"St. James' Park Stadium... Oh no, it should be called Sports Direct Arena now... The Sports Direct Arena is full of noise. Newcastle United fans are behaving wildly, they have completely heated up the atmosphere. It truly is the most popular team here... Newcastle United's home has always been a tough nut to crack for other teams..."

The game had only started five minutes ago, and the scene seemed uneventful.

After the commentators finished announcing the starting lineups for both sides and saw that the game was calm, they started talking about other things.

The controversial game between Liverpool and Everton was naturally a topic for the commentators to talk about.

"Liverpool unexpectedly drew with Everton in the last game, and Liverpool lost a coach in this game. Martin O'Neill was banned by the FA for two games for scolding the referee at the post-match press conference... For Liverpool, this loss may affect their game..."

Before the commentator could finish speaking, he saw Liverpool make a long pass to the front. Chen Hero jumped up and headed the ball to Götze.

Götze quickly feigned a long shot, tricking the Newcastle United defender into losing his balance and falling to block, but he dribbled the ball past him.

Then he flicked his ankle and sent a through ball.

At this time, Chen Hero had already landed, turned, and moved forward.

It could be said that Götze's through ball was timed perfectly. Any earlier and Chen Hero wouldn't be able to receive it, any later and Chen Hero might be offside.

Watching the ball slip past the Newcastle United defender's feet and into the penalty area, and at the same time, Chen Hero also cut in diagonally. The commentator couldn't help but stop his eloquent narration, and then he realized—this was a one-on-one!

He hurriedly shouted, "Good ball! Götze's scalpel-like precise through ball! Hero is onside!!"

Next, everyone saw Chen Hero receive Götze's pass in the penalty area, already behind the entire Newcastle United defense. He cut in diagonally, turned around, and swung his leg to shoot!

The whole movement was very smooth and fluid. He suddenly twisted his body and turned around while cutting in diagonally, and then shot smoothly. The direction and force of these movements were completely different, but he did not stop at all.

Therefore, the ball he shot also did not stop at all, like a shooting star, it went past Newcastle United goalkeeper Krul's hand and into the goal, far corner!

The commentator was stunned again.

Because this goal was too easy and too sudden.

Krul just tilted his body down, and then reached out, and then the ball passed by his hand, he didn't even touch the ball.

The ball rolled into the goal behind him just like that...

At this time, only six minutes had passed since the kickoff.

※※※

After a brief silence, a huge cheer erupted in the commentary box.

"Only six minutes into the game, and Liverpool has taken the lead!"

"Hero! Hero! He has once again opened the scoring for the team! He has done it countless times!"

"Without a coach, Liverpool's performance has not been affected in the slightest! They are still the first to score in the game, leading their opponents as always. And this goal came even earlier! They are already leading after only six minutes!"

"Those who are waiting to see Liverpool's jokes are probably going to be disappointed, because Liverpool can lose their coach, but they cannot lose Chen Hero!"

After scoring, Chen Hero rushed to the camera. He gave a thumbs up to the camera, but soon turned his thumb down.

Most people didn't know who this thumbs-down was for.

Chen Hero didn't shout at the camera to explain, like "This is for xxx, you idiot!"

He didn't, he just made this gesture and looked at the camera provocatively.

He knew that those who could understand would naturally understand, he didn't need to explain.

Because those people had a guilty conscience.