Chapter 1 Liverpool's Away Game

Before the game, West Ham United fans were hoping their team could beat Liverpool at home. After all, Liverpool had shown signs of decline recently, and everyone loves to kick a man when he's down. If they didn't seize the opportunity to beat a drowning dog, they might not get another chance once Liverpool climbed out of the water.

The media was also concerned about Liverpool before the match. After all, it was an away game, and West Ham United had defeated Liverpool at their home stadium last season. That match was the beginning of Liverpool's slide away from the league title.

Of course, that loss was largely due to O'Neal benching Chen Hero.

But this time, the entire Liverpool team was out of form... What good would Chen Hero's brilliance be then?

It turned out to be useful!

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Chen Hero ran to the bottom of the stands where the most die-hard West Ham United fans were gathered and made a gesture for them to shut up.

He was celebrating his goal in this way!

It was his first goal of the game and his twenty-first consecutive league game with a goal.

The game had only been going on for eleven minutes, and the score was 1:0, with Liverpool leading on the road!

"Hero! Ah! Hero! He has finally conquered West Ham United's home!"

"Before the game, everyone thought West Ham United might cause some trouble for Liverpool, but Chen Hero kicked that trouble away with one foot!"

"No matter how Liverpool's form is, Hero is always the most trustworthy person! He will never let you down!"

"What an outstanding hero! If he weren't at Liverpool, he would have been on par with Messi by now?!"

The West Ham United fans in the stands were stunned for a moment, and it was really quiet for a few seconds, as if they were really listening to Chen Hero's commands. But they quickly realized—how dare you provoke us at our home stadium? Are you tired of living!

In an instant, boos erupted, pressing down on Chen Hero from all directions like an overwhelming force.

Chen Hero made a listening gesture, continuing to provoke the West Ham United fans—Boo, go ahead! Louder!

The West Ham United fans were so stimulated by him that they desperately increased their volume, almost running out of breath...

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In the thirtieth minute, Chen Hero scored another goal for the team, bagging a brace!

After scoring, he ran to the West Ham United fans' stands again to provoke them. This time, instead of telling them to shut up, he waved his arms vigorously, inciting them to boo even louder...

The West Ham United fans were immediately conflicted. If they really booed loudly, wouldn't that be listening to Chen Hero's commands? If they didn't boo, wouldn't that be letting that bastard kid off the hook?

Chen Hero looked at the West Ham United fans with their conflicted faces and smiled happily.

He had finally returned all the boos and insults he had suffered here last season in one fell swoop!

Awesome!

So damn awesome!

※※※

In the end, thanks to Chen Hero's two goals, Liverpool defeated West Ham United 3:1 on the road, finally ending their embarrassing two-game winless streak.

But this didn't let Liverpool breathe a sigh of relief.

Liverpool's victory, while not entirely lucky, was by no means something to be proud of...

Because everyone could see that the reason Liverpool was able to beat West Ham United on the road was not because their own performance was so good, nor was it because West Ham United's performance was so bad.

It was all thanks to Chen Hero's great outburst.

Chen Hero had been displeased with West Ham United for a long time. This was entirely a private matter, so Liverpool benefited from Chen Hero in this game.

If Chen Hero's personal grievances with West Ham United weren't so deep, Liverpool might have had to settle for another draw.

After the game, the media gave Liverpool players scores, and only Chen Hero received a nine. None of the other players scored above a six.

Chen Hero scored two goals and also forced the opposing defender to score an own goal.

In other words, none of these three goals had anything to do with the other Liverpool players. It's no wonder the media was so harsh on the other Liverpool players... Their performance really wasn't that great.

But Martin O'Neal couldn't care less. No matter how they won, as long as they won.

At this time, the result was definitely more important than the process.

The victory in this game greatly relieved his pressure and gave Liverpool a chance to breathe.

At least they won, and the pressure was shifted to Manchester United. If Manchester United lost the game, the gap between Liverpool and Manchester United would widen again to eight points, and Liverpool could focus on dealing with Real Madrid.

Martin O'Neal certainly knew how Liverpool won this game.

To be honest, he really hoped that Chen Hero would become enemies with all the other nineteen Premier League teams, so that even if Liverpool was in poor form, Chen Hero would have enough motivation to eliminate the opponent...

For the first time, he hoped that Chen Hero would engage in trash talk everywhere, stirring up hatred.

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Martin O'Neal's good mood didn't last long. The next day, he learned that Manchester United had won the game.

Thus, the gap between the two sides remained at five points.

Manchester United was like a turtle that wouldn't let go once it bit down, making it impossible for Liverpool to shake them off, and the pain was almost unbearable...

Well, it's better than losing to West Ham United and then Manchester United winning, right?

Martin O'Neal could only comfort himself like this.

※※※

After scoring twice against West Ham United, Chen Hero's league goal tally for the season had reached forty-five.

This number put him in third place on the all-time list of top scorers in a single season in the English top league, leaving behind those who scored thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty-one, forty-two, forty-three, and forty-four goals in a single season. Now, only the records of forty-nine and sixty goals remained in front of him.

Based on his current form, it should be no problem to exceed forty-nine league goals this season.

Sixty goals might still be a bit suspenseful...

In addition to discussing Liverpool's current predicament, the media was also discussing Chen Hero's goal tally.

After much discussion, they all felt that Chen Hero should not continue to stay at Liverpool. If Liverpool ended this season empty-handed, then Chen Hero would definitely transfer away. Because he was performing so well, Liverpool was no longer worthy of him. He should go to a better team and pursue his championship dreams on a higher stage.

Even if it meant going to Real Madrid?

It would be more promising than staying at Liverpool.

So, somehow, rumors suddenly spread that Chen Hero would transfer to Real Madrid next season.

Those rumors were so detailed that they could really fool a lot of people.

They all said that Liverpool's current results, highlighted by Chen Hero's forty-five league goals, were really a bit dazzling.

Real Madrid needed a strong center forward, and Mourinho had always liked this type of center forward. At Chelsea, he had Drogba, and during his time at Real Madrid, rumors about Real Madrid's intention to introduce Drogba never stopped, even when Drogba was already in the twilight of his career, he was still enticing the African Andy Lau.

Now that Chen Hero was at the peak of his career, if they wanted Real Madrid's white dynasty to last forever and dominate the football world, Chen Hero was definitely the most important piece of the puzzle.

In addition, for Real Madrid club president Florentino Perez, Chen Hero not only played well, but also had high commercial value. Behind him was a huge market with 1.5 billion people! In addition, he also had extremely high popularity worldwide, comparable to Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

If they could bring in Chen Hero, no matter how much the transfer fee was at the time, just fifty percent of his image rights would be enough for Real Madrid to earn back the transfer fee.

From the team's coach to the club president, there were suitable motives and strong desires to bring in Chen Hero.

So, no matter how you looked at it, this rumor seemed reasonable...

For a time, many Liverpool fans suddenly stopped caring about whether the team could win the league title and began to worry about Chen Hero's future.

The reason was simple. As long as Chen Hero was there, the league title would come sooner or later. But if Chen Hero left, who knew how long they would have to wait for the league title.

In this situation, Liverpool's general manager, Niang, came forward to deny the rumors.

"That's not true. Hero is very happy here. He will not leave the team to go to Real Madrid."

Martin O'Neal also directly pointed the finger at Real Madrid: "Before the game against Real Madrid, such rumors suddenly spread. One can't help but think of them..."

Chen Hero also said that he was not interested in going to Real Madrid, but he said it in a joking tone: "Go to Real Madrid? Impossible, impossible!" He shook his head. "Real Madrid will want fifty percent of my image rights, and I don't want that! I'm a very greedy person!"

On the Real Madrid side, they also responded to the rumor.

"Hero is indeed very good, but we already have Benzema and Higuain," Florentino said. "We don't need a center forward."

Mourinho was very dissatisfied with Martin O'Neal for throwing dirty water at Real Madrid: "Some people are already looking for excuses after they lose the game, such as the main players being suddenly troubled by rumors before the game, which affected their form... But Real Madrid will never use such excuses."

At this time, since it was a war of words, Chen Hero naturally didn't treat it as a denial of rumors. He jumped out to represent Liverpool and face the challenge.

"Affect my form? Ah! Please affect my form! Please let my form decline! Please let rumors spread that make me perform poorly!"

These words were really annoying. Countless people were troubled by their fluctuating form, but Chen Hero was flaunting his stable and outstanding form...

The war of words between the two sides was kicked off ahead of schedule because of a rumor, which was probably something that many people had not expected before...