Dalglish called Chen Hero the hope for Liverpool's revival, an important figure. This sparked some controversy in the local Liverpool media. While Chen Hero was very good at scoring goals, Liverpool's revival couldn't be accomplished by just one striker who was good at scoring. Besides, the detractors argued that what Liverpool needed to revitalize itself wasn't a center forward who was good at scoring, but a spirit. The spirit of Liverpool, and this spirit could only be felt and passed on by players nurtured by Liverpool themselves.

Gerrard was the key figure in Liverpool's next rise.

He came from Liverpool's youth academy, and he had been playing for Liverpool from the youth team to the first team. He faced many temptations, but he ultimately chose to stay with Liverpool, dedicating the best years of his career to Liverpool. He said that the blood flowing through his veins was the red of Liverpool, and he knew what the name Liverpool meant.

Only such a person can become the leader of Liverpool.

Chen Hero was certainly outstanding, but he didn't understand what Liverpool meant or represented at all. He seemed to always have a dismissive attitude toward history, which could be seen from his words and deeds during his time in Napoli. Maradona was the god of Napoli, and he dared to despise him.

After joining Liverpool, many players would praise and admire the team's past glory, saying things like: "I've been a Liverpool fan since I was a kid," "Liverpool is a great team with a very glorious record," "Liverpool is the team with the most Champions League titles in England, it's amazing"...things like that.

What about Chen Hero? He didn't say anything like that. At the grand welcoming ceremony specially prepared for him by Liverpool Football Club, he said: "Hello Liverpool fans, I'm Chen Hero! I'm here to win championships!"

How arrogant!

But whether it was then or now, no one doubted Chen Hero's words, because just a month before he said that, he had just led Napoli, who no one was optimistic about, to defeat Barcelona in the final and win the club's first Champions League trophy in its history.

Chen Hero could indeed lead the team to win championships, but relying on him to revive and revitalize the Red Army was unreliable. Perhaps he could win another Champions League trophy for the team at most, and then use that as a stepping stone to transfer to a giant like Real Madrid for a sky-high transfer fee.

Just like what he did at Zenit St. Petersburg and Napoli. He wasn't wrong, he really came to win championships.

But can Liverpool's revival be achieved with just one Champions League title?

In 2005, Benítez led Liverpool to reverse AC Milan and win their fifth Champions League trophy in history. At that time, Liverpool fans cheered and said that the glory of the Red Army was about to return. What was the result? Cruel reality gave all Liverpool fans a strong slap in the face.

Facts have proved that 2005 was just the last ray of afterglow of the sunset in Albert Dock for Liverpool, a dynasty that had once been glorious and dominated English football for twenty years. What followed was a long and cold darkness. No one knew when the light of hope would envelop the city again.

Therefore, one Champions League title cannot revive Liverpool. But it can make Chen Hero's resume look better, and he can completely use the honors he has won at Liverpool to demand higher treatment from those popular giants like Real Madrid.

Many people believed that Chen Hero would do this, because it was human nature. Compared with teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona, Liverpool was indeed less attractive now.

To put it bluntly, the biggest difference between people like Chen Hero and people like Gerrard is that he lacks a sense of identity with Liverpool. And this sense of identity is passed down and accumulated through blood, Chen Hero does not have the conditions and possibilities for this accumulation, so he is destined not to be able to shoulder the task of reviving Liverpool.

Dalglish must have thought that he was about to leave, so he was randomly assigning generals.

These people also liked Chen Hero, and would sincerely cheer for every goal Chen Hero scored. If Chen Hero helped the team win the League Cup, they would also praise him greatly, without any embarrassment.

But to say that Chen Hero could become Liverpool's future leader and lead Liverpool to revival? They would all have to shake their heads...

※※※

But Dalglish had his own considerations, and he responded to the media and fans' questions...

On the first day of training after the game, Dalglish called the team's current three captains to his office and announced news that surprised them. He also made a special phone call to Gerrard, who was recovering from injury at home, and asked him to come to Melwood.

"I plan to promote Hero to the team's fourth captain," he said.

The team currently has three captains, first captain Gerrard, second captain Carragher, and third captain Reina.

Dalglish was going to promote a player who had only joined the team for half a season to captain, even if it was the fourth captain, the substitute of the substitutes, it was surprising enough.

Carragher almost blurted out: "Why, boss?"

Reina was also surprised, but he didn't express his opinion. He was an outsider, and he was the most low-key and silent of the three captains.

Gerrard had a good temper and was well-liked. Carragher had a slightly more irritable temper. Most of the time he was the one giving orders, while Gerrard was the spiritual leader and totem. He didn't need to speak, as long as he was there. But if he did speak, then no one in Liverpool's locker room would dare to ignore his voice, because Carragher also listened to Gerrard.

Gerrard didn't speak. After the initial surprise, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

"No why, Jamie." Facing Carragher, who regarded him as an idol, Dalglish didn't explain kindly, but directly took out his authority and prestige.

Carragher heard him say this, and sure enough, he stopped talking.

"This is my idea and decision. I think Hero has enough potential to become an excellent captain. So in this regard, I hope you three captains will help him more." If he hadn't known in advance that he was leaving, Dalglish might not have been able to see through many problems, such as Chen Hero. At first, Dalglish was the same as those who opposed him doing this. He was happy that Chen Hero joined the team, just because his arrival could help the team improve its strength, and maybe even win a championship.

But he never thought that one day, Chen Hero would become a landmark figure in Liverpool's history, leading Liverpool to revival and reshaping its glory.

After talking to Chen Hero on the phone that day, he followed the thinking triggered by Adam Johnson and thought about it for a long time. He reflected for a long time. He wondered what it really meant to love Liverpool? Is it love to engage in infighting for one's own authority?

He didn't know if those two Chinese people loved Liverpool, but he couldn't do that.

Then he thought of Chen Hero.

Then he was surprised to find that Chen Hero had some shining qualities that were very similar to the spirit of Liverpool.

For example... Chen Hero never admits defeat in advance, and neither will Liverpool. Last season in the Champions League, he was banned for eight games and missed all six group stage games. At most, he was six goals behind Messi, but in the end, he reversed Messi's lead with a performance of scoring thirteen goals in just seven games and scoring a hat-trick in the final to win the top scorer award.

Liverpool also came back from three goals down at halftime in the Champions League final, tied the score, and finally won the championship in a penalty shootout.

For example, Chen Hero is always full of confidence in himself, even if this confidence seems arrogant to others, Liverpool is also like this. Shankly, the former Liverpool coach, once said: "We have the two best teams in Merseyside - Liverpool and Liverpool Reserves."

But whether it's Chen Hero or Liverpool, confidence is not arrogance, but because they have strong strength as their backing, so their arrogance is justified. Liverpool is confident because they were the best team in England from the 1970s to the early 1990s, and they were also a four-time Champions League champion in Europe. With such strength, it is very normal for them to be arrogant and confident.

Chen Hero's arrogance and confidence comes from his two Russian Premier League top scorers, the Europa League's all-time single-season top scorer, three Serie A top scorers, two Champions League top scorers, one Russian Premier League title, one Serie A title, one Europa League title and one Champions League title. He is only twenty-three years old, and he has already won so many honors. Can't he be arrogant and confident?

So he believed that Chen Hero had the qualities to bring Liverpool back to its glory, and it was feasible to put Liverpool's future on him.

To this end, he wanted to gamble, even if it was the last piece of property he left for Liverpool when he left.

Paisley brought him from Scotland to Liverpool, and ultimately achieved Liverpool's dominance. Later, he promoted McManaman, Owen and others in Liverpool, and also continued the legacy for Liverpool. Now he wanted to continue to do so. In any case, he hoped that Chen Hero could stay in Liverpool for a longer period of time. For this reason, he felt that the captain's armband might be a good way.

The captain's armband symbolizes the captain's honor, but also means responsibility.

He hoped that after Chen Hero became the fourth captain, he could understand to take responsibility.

※※※

Hearing Dalglish say this, Gerrard was the first of the three captains to express his opinion: "I think I'm okay, boss. Actually, Hero and I have a pretty good relationship."

Gerrard is the first captain of the team. He doesn't say much in the locker room, but he is very prestigious. He is the most authoritative person in the team besides Dalglish.

Since he had said so, what objections could the other two captains have? Disagreeing would be disagreeing with Gerrard.

Carragher immediately expressed his agreement.

Reina was just a sidekick among the three captains. The captain was more symbolic than practical for him. It was actually a reward for his contribution to the team. The first two captains had no objections, so he naturally had no objections either.

Seeing that he had settled the three captains, Dalglish nodded and continued: "I will let him wear the captain's armband in the next game."

Since the captains had all agreed, wearing a captain's armband was not a big deal. The three captains had no objection either. Besides, it wasn't the first time Chen Hero had worn the captain's armband. During Liverpool's trip to China, Chen Hero wore the captain's armband in the two games against Evergrande and the Chinese national team.

But things were completely different now. At first, Niang wanted Chen Hero to wear the captain's armband, mainly to please Chinese fans and make it easier for Liverpool to make money from the Chinese market. At that time, Dalglish firmly opposed it, but he had no choice later.

Now, however, Dalglish himself was taking the initiative to make this request.

This change before and after also reflected the change in Dalglish's status and thinking.

Since he was sure he was leaving the club, Dalglish's current thinking was a bit detached. He no longer struggled with which powers were his own and which powers others should not interfere with...

He only cared about which ideas were beneficial to the team.

It was also fortunate that Dalglish was a person who deeply loved Liverpool, and was Liverpool's legendary king. If he was replaced by those ordinary coaches who had no feelings for Liverpool at all, maybe he would simply give up and play rogue. In the end, his successor would definitely face a mess that was difficult to clean up.

※※※

Later, Dalglish announced the news during the team's training.

Some of the players were surprised, some were surprised, but overall, they didn't feel unhappy or offended by Dalglish's appointment.

Anyway, he was the fourth captain, and there were three people ahead of him. When would it be his turn to take over? At the very least, he would have to wait until Gerrard and Carragher had both retired, and Reina was no longer on the team...

Moreover, Chen Hero had a good relationship with the players, so everyone felt that it was no big deal for Hero to be the fourth captain.

Chen Hero himself was a little surprised.

Although he had worn the captain's armband for two games during Liverpool's visit to China, he had never considered himself to be Liverpool's captain, even if he was ranked fourth...

Now Dalglish was officially announcing that he was the captain. Although he was ranked fourth, he exercised the captain's power together with Gerrard, Carragher, and Reina. For example, if the club's senior management wanted to negotiate something with the team, he was qualified to attend.

He wanted to object to this captain's appointment. He felt that he was not qualified enough. So after the game, he ran to find Dalglish, but Dalglish took the lead and blocked his mouth: "Anyway, it's fourth, just a nominal title, so don't decline. I helped you, Hero, think about Adam Johnson. This is the favor I hope you will do for me - you come and be the team's fourth captain."

Chen Hero had nothing to say. He did ask Dalglish to help Adam Johnson play in the game. Since Dalglish had helped him, then he should also repay him. He didn't expect that even if he didn't ask for help, Dalglish would consider letting Adam Johnson play...