Chapter 439 Twenty Goals!

After the match against Blackburn, Liverpool immediately welcomed Anderlecht at home.

Having won 5:1 against Anderlecht away, the team was very relaxed. Even coach Martin O'Neill didn't think there would be any problems in this game.

Who would have thought that after the game started, they would realize something was wrong? This time, not only was the team taking the opponent lightly, but even the coach was a bit careless...

Fortunately, there was one person who never underestimated any opponent, or rather, never gave up pursuing goals just because of the opponent's level.

Regardless of whether the team's qualification situation was certain, Chen Hero would pursue goals as always.

Because he wanted to compete with Messi in the number of goals.

In the Champions League game held a few days earlier, Messi scored twice away from home, and his goal count had risen to five.

Although Messi still had one less goal than Chen Hero, Chen Hero couldn't take it lightly, because Messi was indeed the most outstanding player in football today, and he also had a very strong team. As long as he was in this team, his number of goals would continue to appear.

It was precisely because of Chen Hero's two goals in this game that Liverpool avoided being defeated by Anderlecht at their home stadium. In the end, Liverpool and Anderlecht drew 2:2 at home.

Chen Hero scored twice in the game, so he has scored eight goals in the Europa League this season, continuing to lead the scorer list.

Back in the league, Liverpool easily defeated Fulham 2:0 at home. Chen Hero did not score in this game because he was arranged to sit on the bench. Continuous battles had too much impact on the team's physical fitness, and Martin O'Neill continued to insist on his rotation.

Since the game entered Liverpool's rhythm from the beginning, and the goals came quickly, Fulham did not show their tenacious fighting spirit, so Martin O'Neill had no intention of letting Chen Hero play at all. He eventually sat on the bench for the entire ninety minutes.

On November 24th, in the fourteenth round of the league, Liverpool defeated Newcastle 3:0 away. Chen Hero started and scored a goal.

The league has started for fourteen rounds, and he has scored sixteen goals, with three assists. It should be noted that this data was achieved under the circumstances that he was rotated in three games and suspended for a red card in one game. Therefore, he actually scored sixteen goals in ten games, which is a very remarkable achievement.

But unfortunately, he did not continue this excellent state into the League Cup. In the League Cup quarter-final held on November 30th, Liverpool lost to Chelsea 0:2. Chelsea took revenge for being eliminated from the quarter-finals by Liverpool with the same score last year.

In fact, it can't be blamed on Chen Hero for not being in good shape. Chen Hero was initially on the bench in this game.

It wasn't until the sixty-seventh minute that he was substituted, at which time Chelsea was already leading Liverpool by two goals.

His appearance did not bring any positive changes to the team. In the end, the defending champion in the League Cup, Liverpool, could only helplessly accept the fate of being eliminated from the League Cup.

But Martin O'Neill was not frustrated or annoyed. Although he still expressed regret for being eliminated at the post-match press conference. But that was just for show, for others to see.

Martin O'Neill might even have breathed a sigh of relief in his heart... In this way, the team would not have to consider the League Cup for the next two or three months. If possible, O'Neill would even want to give up the FA Cup directly.

Now the team's momentum in the league is very good. If they continue to play like this, it is hard to say whether they will win the championship, but Champions League qualification is very likely. Although they were forced to a draw at home in the Europa League, it did not damage the team's qualification situation.

So Martin O'Neill felt that it was better to focus on the league, and then slightly focus on the Europa League. As for the two domestic events, he would temporarily give up.

※※※

On December 2nd, the fifteenth round of the league was five rounds away from the game agreed upon by Chen Hero and Martin O'Neill. Liverpool played against Bolton at home.

The final score was 4:0. Chen Hero, who came on as a substitute in the League Cup but failed to help the team defeat Chelsea and advance to the semi-finals, put all his strength into this game, and he staged a hat-trick...

This was his second hat-trick of the season. The league has only been going on for fifteen rounds, and he has already scored nineteen goals...

Such terrifying goal-scoring efficiency made the entire English football world tremble.

The league hasn't even reached half, and the media have very consciously stopped discussing who will win the best scorer this season.

Because it's completely unnecessary, the best scorer competition is completely unnecessary in the face of the strong Chen Hero!

This is a good thing for Chen Hero, but for others, it is a very cruel thing, especially Van Persie...

After losing the league's best scorer last season, he said to the coach and himself that there would be next season.

But now it seems that he may have to pin his hopes on next season. Because this season, it will be very difficult for him to surpass Chen Hero...

At the same time last season, after fifteen rounds of the league, he ranked first in the league scorer list with fifteen goals.

And this season his state is obviously not as good as last season, and he has only scored eleven goals in fifteen rounds of the league.

There is a gap of eight goals from Chen Hero, how can he catch up? The saying that everything is possible does not seem to apply to Chen Hero.

※※※

After finishing the domestic league, Liverpool rushed to Portugal to challenge Sporting Lisbon away.

Before each Europa League game, Messi's game had already ended, so Chen Hero would have a very clear benchmark and reference.

Messi scored a penalty in the game, and his personal single-season Champions League goal count rose to six.

The group stage has not yet ended, and he has already scored six goals. Such a performance has been praised by many European sports media, who believe that Messi has continued his excellent state from last season, and may even be able to defend the Champions League's best scorer this season.

If he continues to play in this state, it is almost certain that this year's various awards will definitely be Messi's again.

The Champions League is indeed the most eye-catching stage. Also, in the European war, Chen Hero scored eight goals in the Europa League. Only the English and Chinese media were the happiest, and promoted it for a while. The attention given by sports media in other countries was obviously not as good as Messi's.

So everyone praises a player who has scored six goals, but ignores a person who has scored eight goals.

Chen Hero didn't bother to argue with the media about this, because he knew that he had only scored eight goals, and it was indeed not enough to cause a sensation!

He wants to score more goals!

Playing against Sporting Lisbon away, Chen Hero continued to go crazy and score goals, scoring twice!

Helping Liverpool win Sporting Lisbon 2:1 away, there is still one round left in the group stage. Liverpool has thirteen points with four wins and one draw, and has already qualified in advance, and even won the group first in advance. Anderlecht and Sporting Lisbon are competing for another qualifying spot.

The date of the last round of the Europa League group stage is December 15th. From this day on, Liverpool will also fall into a very dense schedule in the Premier League.

So Martin O'Neill has already started considering a major rotation for this last round of the group stage. Winning or losing is not important, what is important is to let the main players rest, and to train young players, and give those rotated players more playing opportunities, to avoid them getting emotional because they have too few appearances.

On the plane back to Liverpool from Portugal, Chen Hero found Martin O'Neill, and what he talked about was exactly this matter.

Chen Hero can't see through other people's minds, but after playing football in the professional world for so many years, he still has some experience and common sense. Now the team has qualified for the group stage in advance, and they have also won the first place in the group. The coach will definitely rotate in the last round against Grika, the weakest team in the group.

Chen Hero can't control the rotation of other people, he just hopes that O'Neill will not rotate him, because he wants to increase his goal count. His European battle goal for this season is to score twenty goals. Although he is also confident to reach the final with the team, but this thing also needs to consider the factors of luck, his hope does not mean that the team will definitely be able to enter the final. If they can't enter the final, they may be eliminated somewhere. What if he is still too far away from twenty goals by then?

So it is best to score more goals in the games that he is sure to participate in.

The last round of the group stage, the opponent is also a recognized weak team, it is simply a great target for increasing the number of goals!

How could Chen Hero miss such an opportunity?

So he went to O'Neill to talk about this matter.

O'Neill was very puzzled by his insistence on participating in the last round of the group stage. He was indeed planning to let Chen Hero rest in this game, and rest completely, not only not letting him start, but not even letting him enter the substitute list. He would directly throw him to the stands to be a spectator.

Considering the dense schedule that follows, O'Neill's arrangement is reasonable and in line with the usual practice of general coaches.

But Chen Hero came to him and told him that he must participate in the last round of the group stage.

Why is this?

And he had previously asked him for leave, saying that he had to go back to his country to celebrate his father's birthday no matter what...

O'Neill began to reflect - is he being too indulgent towards this Chen Hero? Has he begun to ignore the authority of himself, the head coach?

Then he still has to show the authority of himself as the head coach, so as not to let him be too arrogant!

So he shook his head and rejected Chen Hero's suggestion: "I can't agree with you, Hero. We have already qualified for the Europa League, and the last group stage game is meaningless to us. But the league schedule after the 15th is dense, and the team needs your strength."

"There are no problems with my physical fitness, boss. Even if I play a game a day, I can play it! So please be sure to let me participate in this group stage game!"

Seeing him so resolute, O'Neill felt even more strange: "Why? What reason do I have to let you start?"

Chen Hero's answer startled O'Neill: "Because I want to break the single-season European battle goal record, boss! I want to score at least twenty goals in the Europa League this season! So every game is crucial to me!"

After understanding Chen Hero's words, Martin O'Neill was dumbfounded...