Chapter 1 I Will Show You the Best of Me

Many people thought that with Chen Hero, this away game would be like half a home game for Liverpool. Looking at the fans' behavior before the game, it did seem to be developing in that direction.

Just imagine, only Chen Hero could possibly get so many away fans to cheer for him so enthusiastically. And with Chen Hero's status in these people's hearts, surely the Napoli fans wouldn't make things too difficult for Liverpool.

But after the game started, everyone realized they were wrong.

Before the game and during the game were two completely different worlds.

Before the game, both sides were happy and harmonious. The fans cheered for the visiting team's players, while the players from both teams chatted happily in the player tunnel, occasionally bursting into laughter.

Less than a minute after the game started, De Jong gave Liverpool a rough welcome with a fierce, completely illegal tackle.

As soon as De Jong tackled Suarez, the referee blew his whistle.

Foul!

Even the commentators were surprised. "De Jong commits a foul, but this tackle was completely unnecessary. Suarez wasn't in a dangerous position at all. He even had his back to the attack, intending to pass the ball back... It doesn't look like the two sides are very friendly..."

Chen Hero reacted immediately.

He looked at De Jong, who was looking at him, and smiled.

De Jong's eyes held a challenge.

Chen Hero knew exactly what this meant.

He had said before that he would do his best to defeat Napoli and show them the best of himself. This sentence also applied to Napoli.

Napoli would also do its best to compete with Liverpool and show them the best of Napoli!

In order not to let Liverpool think that Napoli was weak and easily bullied, this foul was actually a declaration and a reminder: Bring out your full strength and then defeat us! If you can!

Chen Hero gave his former teammate a thumbs-up.

When De Jong saw this gesture, a smile appeared on his fierce face.

He knew that Chen Hero understood what they meant.

※※※

"Ptooey!" Suarez spat on the ground after getting up.

Chen Hero and his other teammates rushed over to see if he was injured.

"I'm not injured..." Suarez said while moving his ankle, "But! I lost face! Damn it! After the game, I'm going to eat them out of house and home!"

Seeing that Suarez was okay, everyone dispersed.

Chen Hero patted him on the shoulder. "Wait until you win this game! Focus on the game now!"

"Nonsense! Of course!" Suarez rolled his eyes at Chen Hero. "I'm definitely going to win!"

※※※

Napoli was really giving it their all.

Their defense was very tight and tenacious, and their counterattacks were also very sharp.

Although Cavani was not as good as Chen Hero, he was still one of the top strikers in European football, and he could score more than twenty goals a season in Serie A. Last season, he even won the Serie A Golden Boot.

In addition, there were Hamsik and Cassano organizing and coordinating in midfield. Although they no longer had Sanchez and Chen Hero, Napoli's attacking strength was still very strong.

And those Napoli fans who had been cheering for Chen Hero before were no longer cheering for the visiting team at all. They only cheered for Napoli. Sometimes, you could even hear boos aimed at Liverpool.

This was no different from the various away games that Liverpool had experienced. After all, this was an away game, not their home ground.

The warmth before the game could not conceal the cruel nature of this match.

In competitive sports, it's either you die or I die. Any sympathy or pity for the opponent is foolish. No matter how good the relationship is, you have to put it aside at this time. Haven't you seen many close friends turn against each other because of a game?

So the fact that the two sides hadn't turned against each other yet could already be said to be remarkable.

Napoli's tactics were defensive counterattacks, which was very similar to Liverpool.

Because Napoli was playing defensive counterattacks, Liverpool naturally couldn't also play defensive counterattacks, so they had to push forward and attack.

However, pushing forward would leave gaps behind them, which Napoli would seize.

Therefore, they had to score as soon as possible, otherwise, as time passed, the situation would become favorable to the defending side, Napoli.

At this time, Chen Hero needed to step forward and break through the dense defense.

※※※

Chen Hero was indeed in good form in this game. He ran actively and shot accurately.

He had three shots in ten minutes, all of which were on target. Of course, Rosati was also in good form, and he saved all three shots.

The problem Chen Hero faced was that Napoli was too familiar with him, from the players to the coaches.

This made the defense very targeted.

Napoli would rather die than let Chen Hero into the penalty area, using any means necessary to force him out.

This meant that his headers couldn't发挥 out their effect.

Chen Hero also felt that playing against Napoli was a bit awkward because the other side knew him too well.

They had played together for four seasons, and they knew his playing habits like the back of their hand.

It seemed that he had to come up with something different. At least something that Napoli wasn't familiar with...

He looked down at his left foot.

His left foot had been trained, but he hadn't had many opportunities to use it in games. Because he was used to kicking with his right foot, and his teammates were also used to it, their passes, runs, and follow-up plays would all take into account that his dominant foot was his right foot, so they would naturally make it convenient for his right foot, not his left foot.

If he insisted on using his left foot to play, it would create a lot of problems and his teammates wouldn't be able to adapt, which might have serious consequences. For example, a misplaced pass in the frontcourt might allow the opponent to steal the ball and launch a counterattack, threatening their own goal.

Therefore, Chen Hero rarely deliberately used his left foot to control the ball and shoot, unless it just so happened that it was more comfortable to use his left foot than his right foot.

But such opportunities were rare.

So, in fact, most people didn't know that his left foot had been trained. Even if he occasionally succeeded in shooting with his left foot, others would think it was just luck, that he had stumbled upon it.

His headers, right foot, free kicks, long shots, and poaching in front of the goal were all well-known as his regular weapons, and everyone knew that he was good at these.

But his left foot was something that few people knew about.

Therefore, it could be said that his left foot was Chen Hero's last secret weapon.

Was this game a good opportunity to unveil this secret weapon?

※※※

Chen Hero had made up his mind to use his left foot, but he was still restricted by his other teammates. After all, everyone passed the ball to the right side of his body, making it easier for him to control the ball with his right foot—this was part of the tactics. In order to maximize Chen Hero's scoring ability, Martin O'Neill designed tactics that were completely convenient for Chen Hero, considering things from Chen Hero's perspective. How to make things convenient for Chen Hero, how to enable him to control, adjust, and then shoot and score in the shortest amount of time—these were all the first parts of the tactics. Everyone had long accepted and become accustomed to this requirement through day-to-day training.

In the game, this manifested as almost all the balls being passed to Chen Hero's right foot.

The benefits of doing so were obvious: Chen Hero's average number of adjustments was one or two fewer than other players. Don't underestimate this "insignificant" advantage. On the ever-changing football field, the time saved by these one or two adjustments was enough to determine whether a ball went in or went wide.

If you want to pursue the limit and rack up goals, you have to squeeze out the details like this, one or two balls at a time.

It's no wonder Chen Hero can score more than a hundred goals in a season. Many of his shots don't have too many extra movements before them. It's just one shot, and then, relying on his accurate shooting accuracy, the ball goes in.

So Chen Hero's ability to score so many goals really can't be said to be entirely due to his own outstanding ability. It also requires tactical cooperation to achieve.

But now, the disadvantage of this tactic is its lack of flexibility.

When Chen Hero wants to adjust, the whole team can't adjust immediately.

He can only insist on using his left foot to control the ball in the first half, even if it takes a little more time to adjust. Because only in this way can he tell his teammates—I want to use my left foot now, everyone come and cooperate with me!

If the situation hasn't improved by halftime, then he will directly make this request to everyone in the locker room, asking them to cooperate with his adjustment.

So everyone now sees that Chen Hero's performance is suddenly a bit strange. He clearly has opportunities to shoot with his right foot, but he insists on switching to his left foot, thus delaying the timing and causing the ball not to go in.

Many people feel sorry for Chen Hero, and at the same time, they are puzzled—his right foot is clearly better, so why is he using his left foot?

But in fact, even if Chen Hero had shot with his right foot in the opportunities just now, it wouldn't necessarily have gone in, because Napoli's defense against his right foot was almost instinctive. They really knew him too well...

Because Chen Hero was constantly adjusting, the entire Liverpool team was also a bit disoriented, so Liverpool's attack wasn't as sharp as before.

But even if it wasn't as sharp as before, Liverpool's attack still put enormous pressure on Napoli, so Napoli couldn't counterattack to their heart's content either.

The two sides were deadlocked like this, mainly in Napoli's half and midfield.

Neither side would give in.

The stalemate lasted until the end of the first half, and no one scored.

This could be said to be very rare for Liverpool.

They didn't score a single goal in the entire first half!

※※※

The commentators were also very surprised, and at the same time, they were puzzled.

Especially puzzled by Chen Hero's performance.

"Could it be that he doesn't know how to play against his old club? Or is it that he can't bear to?"

Martin O'Neill was also very puzzled, so the first thing he did when he returned to the locker room was to ask Chen Hero what was wrong.

Chen Hero's answer surprised him a bit. "I want to use my left foot to complete this game, boss."