Lin Hai Ting Tao
Chapter 845 Prelude (Third update, requesting monthly tickets!)
Begging for your monthly votes!
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The team couldn't rest after the Christmas dinner. On Christmas Day, the team finished training early to allow everyone to go home and celebrate the holiday with their families. Although the home game against Southampton was tomorrow, Martin O'Neill didn't make everyone stay at the hotel a day early as usual. Instead, he arranged for the players to go home, considering that today was Christmas. This day in the Western world is as significant as the Spring Festival in China. If he arranged for everyone to stay at the hotel at this time, it would only make the players feel dissatisfied and unwilling to prepare for the game, which would affect their performance.
It was better to just give them a holiday to go home.
Chen Hero returned home and spent a warm Christmas with Cabrella. The only regret was that he could no longer create the atmosphere of that day, and Chen Hero naturally couldn't succeed. Thinking of this, Chen Hero gnashed his teeth at West Ham United and Allardyce.
Cabrella had just arrived in Liverpool. After spending Christmas together, she would accompany Chen Hero back to China. Her parents had not yet met their son's current girlfriend. This time, for his father's fiftieth birthday, he had to bring his beautiful foreign girlfriend back to show off. Old people like to save face sometimes. Bringing Cabrella back would guarantee that his parents would be proud and happy.
The next morning, the players who had gone home for the holiday came to the designated hotel in Liverpool one after another, and then gathered to watch the Southampton recent match videos edited by the coaching staff to understand their characteristics and status. Supplemented by Martin O'Neill's commentary, they deeply understood what their opponent was like this time.
After having lunch at the hotel at noon, they took a nap and did some simple strength training in the afternoon before heading to the stadium.
Southampton was a promoted team this season, and their strength was not strong. In addition, Liverpool was at home, and they had just defeated Manchester United in the previous league round, so their morale was high. The Christmas dinner also had the same effect, so the result of this game was predictable.
Although Southampton had tied Liverpool at home in the sixth round of the league, Liverpool rotated players in that game, and many main players, including Chen Hero, did not play. The Liverpool team was not very adapted to the changes brought about by the rotation. But now it was completely different.
In the end, Liverpool defeated Southampton 4:1 at home. Chen Hero scored one goal and assisted two goals in this game and was selected as the best player.
A commentator joked that if this continued, Chen Hero would have to dig an underground wine cellar in his house to store the champagne awarded for best player.
In the next away game against Wigan Athletic, Martin O'Neill continued to rotate players, and players including Chen Hero were on the bench.
Even so, Liverpool still won Wigan Athletic 2:1 away.
After nineteen rounds of the league, the schedule was halfway through. Currently, Liverpool ranks first in the league with forty-two goals scored, twelve goals conceded, and forty-seven points. This result is Liverpool's best result in the league since the beginning of the new century. In the past half season, Liverpool fans have never been so proud and happy as they are now. Every game is truly an enjoyment for them, and even if they lose one or two games, no one will panic.
Some Liverpool fans even believed that they could participate in the Champions League next season, even though the league was only halfway through.
Manchester City was one point behind them, ranking second. Manchester United was four points behind, ranking third, and fourth place was Arsenal, one point behind Manchester United.
Next up was the game against Manchester City.
This was the first time Liverpool had met Manchester City this season. In theory, in the league, the same opponent plays once in the first half of the season and once in the second half of the season, but this season was so strange that Liverpool and Manchester City's first encounter was in the second half of the season. On the other hand, the two encounters with Southampton this season have already been completed.
In the penultimate round of the league, Liverpool will also welcome Manchester City at home. If the situation is still like this at that time, that game will definitely be crowned as "a game that decides the championship."
But now, it was all too early.
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Martin O'Neill looked at the next opponent on the schedule and suddenly realized that he was a little nervous and excited...
This wasn't some kind of final, so what was he excited and nervous about?
Because he thought of his bet with Chen Hero.
He jokingly rejected Chen Hero, but what if Chen Hero really scored five goals in the game?
Did he really have to allow him to return to his country?
O'Neill shook his head—was the probability too low? He didn't believe that Chen Hero could complete the feat of scoring five goals in any designated game. Even someone like Messi, it would not be easy to designate a game for him to score five goals alone, let alone Chen Hero...
But there was a thought in his heart that he couldn't help but want to bring up—what if he really did it?
If he really did it, would he really let him go?
Martin O'Neill neither wanted this to be the case, nor was he faintly looking forward to witnessing such a great scene in the game.
Five goals! The opponent was still a team like Manchester City. If it could really be achieved, I believe it would be a great boost to the morale of his team, and a huge blow to Manchester City, killing two birds with one stone...
He felt conflicted.
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While Martin O'Neill was struggling with internal conflicts, Chen Hero was packing his luggage with Cabrella.
"Are you so sure you can score five goals in the game against Manchester City?" Cabrella asked while packing her luggage.
"Even if I can't complete it, I have to complete it! This is a dead mission that must be completed!" Chen Hero put the birthday gifts he bought for his parents into the suitcase.
"What if you can't complete it?"
Chen Hero looked up at Cabrella: "In my dictionary, there is no 'what if.'" Then he continued to pack things. "I've already booked the plane tickets, round trip. We'll arrive home on the afternoon of the 31st, and leave after lunch the next day."
Chen Hero actually asked O'Neill for one day less leave. According to his plan, he would not be able to return to Liverpool until the 2nd, just in time for the game against Newcastle United the next day. Newcastle's performance this season has also been excellent, currently ranking sixth in the league, and they are a strong opponent. Chen Hero will definitely have to play in this game. Even if Martin O'Neill rotates players, he won't rotate at this time, he will only rotate when facing weak teams.
But if he said three days, he was afraid that the head coach would not agree, and if he said two days, he would have taken the leave, and then...the general is in the field, and does not accept the orders of the sovereign...
At worst, he would accept the punishment afterwards.
This shows how important his father's fiftieth birthday was to him, and what price Chen Hero paid to be able to come back and participate.
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Before the derby with Manchester City, the media had already begun to hype the game wildly.
Because the hatred between Chen Hero and Manchester City could not be finished in three days and three nights...
Starting from the malicious retaliation against Richards, Chen Hero and Manchester City were considered to be at odds. A series of subsequent events further deepened the conflict and hatred between the two. Now it has reached the point of "deadly enmity" where they will not give up even if they die.
This game was also an away game, and Manchester City fans have already threatened to give Chen Hero a good beating at their home stadium.
Of course, this time they shouldn't use racial discrimination slogans and methods to attack Chen Hero anymore.
Liverpool fans announced that they would defend Chen Hero to the death.
The two clubs began to cool down the fans of both teams.
Martin O'Neill said in an interview with reporters: "The grievances between Liverpool and Manchester City? I'm not very clear, I wasn't the head coach of Liverpool at that time. In my opinion, this is just an ordinary league game, and I hope that fans of both sides will treat it with a calm mind. This kind of game happens thirty-eight times every season..."
Manchester City's head coach Mancini also called on fans not to aim their spears at Chen Hero: "I agree with Martin, this is just an ordinary game. Fans should focus their attention on the game, Manchester City needs their cheers, not boos aimed at the opposing players..."
But in the狂热 atmosphere, their appeals seemed weak and powerless. At least the Manchester police did not take the two head coaches' appeals to heart, and their负责人 has announced that they will strengthen the security forces at the stadium on the day of the game. At that time, fully armed riot police will separate Liverpool fans and Manchester City fans, and will also open a special entrance only for Liverpool fans to enter and exit to ensure that fans of both sides will not have direct contact.
At the same time, Liverpool Football Club also issued a warning, reminding fans not to go to Manchester too early, and it is best to follow the large group of troops—generally speaking, only when going to Turkey, Italy and other regions with high incidence of football violence, will English clubs make such warnings to their fans. But now it is just a domestic league game, and such a warning has been issued.
This shows what kind of state this game is in...
This is not the end, although the head coaches of both sides are very friendly, the players of both teams are not fuel-efficient lamps.
Richards did not hide his disgust for Chen Hero in an interview: "He is very good at scoring goals? Yes, but so what, when facing Manchester City, I will not give him a chance to score! He is a despicable guy, and I will not shake hands with him, I mean what I say!"
Chen Hero hadn't had time to speak yet, Suarez had already jumped out first: "If you want to talk about despicable, Richards is second to none in the world, no one dares to say that he is number one. I still remember the way he pretended to be innocent after tripping me! A person who does something wrong but doesn't dare to admit it, I don't think he can be considered a man!"
Chen Hero also said: "Despicable? Aha, who falsely accused me of racial discrimination, who lied to the FA, to the media, and to the public? Whose conspiracy was exposed, and who was sued and then lost the case? I really think that letting him do community service will not make him repent, it is better to let him pick up soap in prison."
Richards immediately shut up.
He was in the wrong!
He did tell lies to deceive everyone and falsely accused Chen Hero of racial discrimination against him. So when Chen Hero brought up the old account, he couldn't continue to stubbornly deny it.
He could only hold this breath in his heart, and then make up his mind to make Chen Hero look good in the game, and when he wins the game, he must celebrate unscrupulously in front of Chen Hero!