Losing two players in a row had made Martin O'Neill quite nervous recently.

Fortunately, no other players had been injured since then, otherwise Martin O'Neill would have been inconsolable.

Because of the injuries, he had specifically reduced the amount of exercise in training, just in case players like Shaheen got injured during training...

However, he didn't dare to relax his demands during games, and they still had to go all out when they should.

After the Champions League knockout stage reignited, Liverpool would face the test of fighting on two fronts, which would be a great threat to the team's physical fitness. Losing games in the league would be inevitable, and Liverpool almost certainly wouldn't be able to maintain their excellent form from the first half of the season. In order to cope with the situation that might occur then, Liverpool had to prepare now.

Even bears know they need to store enough fat in their bodies for hibernation, and Martin O'Neill naturally understood this principle. Before the Champions League knockout stage arrived, Liverpool had to accumulate enough league points, otherwise they wouldn't be able to free up their hands to deal with the Champions League knockout stage.

The points gap between Manchester United and Liverpool had already been narrowed to seven points by Liverpool's successive victories.

This was also the reason why many media outlets were clamoring that Liverpool could win the league title this season.

But Martin O'Neill didn't dare to take it lightly.

There had been cases of teams coming back from fifteen points behind to win the championship, so what was seven points?

Not safe, not safe, very unsafe.

Keep winning!

In the twentieth round of the league, Liverpool challenged Stoke City away.

Without any suspense, Liverpool continued to win, 2:1.

Chen Hero also continued to score, one goal, the goal that sealed the victory for the team.

Now the English media was starting to count on their fingers how many consecutive rounds Chen Hero would continue to score.

He had scored in eleven consecutive rounds, and his record across seasons was thirteen rounds. Everyone was waiting to see if he could tie this record, or even... surpass it!

※※※

The media and fans were focused on goals, but Martin O'Neill was focused on defense.

Carragher started in this game and performed steadily, without making any mistakes. The goal they conceded had nothing to do with him.

However, Martin O'Neill didn't dare to breathe a sigh of relief just because Carragher performed well. Because he knew that Carragher hadn't played many games in the first half of the season, so his physical fitness was guaranteed. When his physical fitness wasn't a problem, it was easy for the experienced Carragher to be a good center back.

The real test is yet to come.

Martin O'Neill thought to himself.

※※※

Chen Hero spent New Year's Eve 2013 alone, but he received many text messages of greetings and made many congratulatory calls.

He also called his dad to wish him a happy birthday.

After the call, he thought of the long run he had with Cabreza last year... This story had been adapted into a movie, which was now released. The movie's box office performance was said to be very good, especially in the three markets of the United States, the United Kingdom, and China.

His dad and mom, two old people who hadn't been to the cinema for a long time, also went to the cinema to watch it. After watching it, they sent Chen Hero a text message, praising him for making a good film, and added at the end: "Oh, by the way, that Taylor woman is really pretty..."

Chen Hero rolled his eyes when he saw this sentence.

In 2013, he experienced the most exciting long run of his life, and also starred in his first movie. He also had an affair with Taylor Swift, but thanks to this, his relationship with Cabreza also made a breakthrough. He had longed for it for a long time, and finally successfully got into Cabreza's bed...

He also wrote his name in the history of the Europa League with thirty goals, and won the Europa League championship with a crazy performance. The only regret was that he missed the league championship at the last moment. But this season, he would not let this honor fall by the wayside again.

In 2013, he was twenty-five years old. In the blink of an eye, it had been seven years since he debuted from Zenit St. Petersburg. He had won many championships, but there were still more championships waiting for him to win, again and again.

He was still young, he had many, many things to do, many, many tasks to complete, and many, many goals to score.

He wouldn't always keep the past in his mind, the future was more worthy of his longing.

2013 had passed, and although it was rich and varied, he didn't miss it. In 2014, he would embark on a new journey. Compared with the years that had passed, he preferred the unknown and new future.

In the early hours of January 1, 2014, Chen Hero posted a message on Twitter and Weibo: "2014, I'm coming! Greet me—!"

※※※

The first game Chen Hero faced in 2014 was the third round of the FA Cup, with Liverpool going to Preston as guests.

Martin O'Neill gave up this game without hesitation.

What he sent out was a full second-team lineup.

Even Chen Hero was not on the list.

Chen Hero was unwilling - you are rotating players because you are considering that everyone's physical strength is tight now, and you have to fight on multiple fronts. But I don't have this problem, I am in good physical condition, my waist is good and my legs and feet are good! Why should I rotate with you?

No, you have to put me on the game list, and it has to be a starting one!

He ran to Martin O'Neill to talk about this issue.

Martin O'Neill felt very strange, but Chen Hero's attitude was firm... Anyway, Chen Hero had never had a physical problem. As for injuries... He had been coaching Liverpool for a year and a half, and had never seen Chen Hero get injured. He was like a robot from the future, never knowing what injury was.

So Martin O'Neill didn't make things difficult for Chen Hero. If he wanted to play, then let him play.

In this way, Chen Hero became the only first-team player in Liverpool to appear away...

This made him look particularly eye-catching.

The second-team players were also very happy to see Chen Hero come to participate in the game, because it meant that they could easily defeat Preston...

Only the forwards would be more depressed - it's not easy to have a game with enough weight to play, but you still come to grab our position! Are you, an absolute main player in the first team, lacking a few FA Cups?

The media also couldn't understand, what did Martin O'Neill mean?

The meaning of sending up all the second-team players was obvious - give up the FA Cup and let the players from the second team and the youth team mess around, they can mess around however they want. It shouldn't matter if they are eliminated in the middle of the game, and maybe O'Neill did this in the hope that the team would be eliminated in the FA Cup, which was a reason and an excuse.

If they were eliminated, Liverpool could concentrate on fighting on two fronts, with no games other than the league and the Champions League.

But he withdrew all the first-team players, leaving only one Chen Hero, and still let him start. What did this mean?

If Chen Hero was on the field, then it wouldn't make sense for Martin O'Neill to give up the FA Cup - if he really wanted to give up the FA Cup, why would he let Chen Hero play? Other players need to rest, doesn't Chen Hero need to rest? Chen Hero should need it more than anyone else!

So everyone couldn't figure out what Martin O'Neill was intending to do.

As Liverpool's opponent, Preston didn't need to understand what Martin O'Neill was thinking, they only needed to figure out one thing - Hero is starting, so they are dead!

※※※

"A brace! A brace! Hero is worthy of being Mr. Brace! His favorite number of goals is... 'two'! In all competitions this season, not counting this game, he has already scored two and only two goals in ten games, a standard brace!"

The commentators shouted.

"Liverpool's second team's performance is very average, Preston originally had a chance to beat Liverpool at home. But Liverpool has Chen Hero, so they are destined to be a tragedy! Liverpool's two goals helped Liverpool take a 2-0 lead over Preston away from home!"

"If Martin O'Neill is determined to give up the FA Cup, he shouldn't have let Hero play... This is absolutely no suspense, Liverpool will definitely advance to the next round!"

Liverpool's second-team players rushed up to hug Chen Hero - there aren't many opportunities to do this, so they must seize the opportunity!

The second team can also be called the "reserve team", mainly composed of players who can't play in the first team for a long time on weekdays, as well as some young players who have just turned eighteen. They need to play reserve team games here to accumulate experience. They are the "main force" of the reserve team. In addition, if someone in the first team is injured and has just recovered, and needs to play games to find his form, he will also be arranged in the reserve team, but these people often don't stay for long. As long as they play a few reserve team games, they will be transferred back to the first team. Those players who are not young and often play games with the reserve team are basically players that the first team doesn't want. Transferring away is their best way out, otherwise they can only stay in the reserve team until the contract expires, and then terminate the contract with the club and leave the team.

During training, the reserve team does not train with the first team. They have a special coach in charge, usually an assistant coach.

Chen Hero is the core of Liverpool, and he has not been injured, nor has he needed to go to the reserve team to find his form, so the players in the reserve team don't have many opportunities to contact Chen Hero. Everyone is in the same team, but they are also divided into circles. Chen Hero, a tall, rich and handsome guy, and the "losers" of the reserve team are not in the same circle. Everyone can't play together, and there is no intersection.

In the eyes of the reserve team players, Chen Hero is their idol. Now it is rare to be able to compete and fight alongside their idol...

And what makes them breathe a sigh of relief is - through the contact in this game, they found that Chen Hero, who has become popular in the first team, is not as arrogant as they thought. He is actually a very approachable person. He doesn't have the airs of a big star, and he jokes with them in the locker room with his bare body. Everyone can also play very well together.

In the end, with Chen Hero's brace, Liverpool defeated Preston away and successfully advanced to the next round of the FA Cup.

At the post-match press conference, Preston's coach was a little aggrieved.

"To be honest, it may not be appropriate to say this, but this is my true thought - when I saw Hero appear in the starting list, I had a feeling of 'this is not fair'..." He shrugged. "I don't understand why O'Neill rotated everyone, but left Chen Hero alone. He should go to the Champions League and show his skills, not come to the FA Cup to bully us..."

These words caused a lot of laughter from the reporters present.

Preston's coach glared his eyes: "Is this funny! The result is that we were eliminated! We were eliminated in the third round! If Liverpool had sent out their main lineup from the beginning, I would have lost convincingly. But now I feel like I've been played, this is an insult to us, and I regret that a century-old club like Liverpool doesn't respect its opponents so much!"

Everyone stopped laughing, but looked at each other, and they all saw a certain tacit understanding in each other's eyes - this matter... can be hyped up!