Chapter 313: Sweeping the Enemy (2) (Four-time Champion)

Just 10 years ago, Newcastle United, located at the northernmost end of the Premier League, were the focus of English football. But 10 years later, the "Magpies" have been marching towards the relegation zone since the start of the season, but no one is paying attention.

Even though there are still many European football legends in the team, this once vibrant and aggressive team has fallen to the bottom of the Premier League.

This season is destined to be a milestone season for Newcastle. Two legends in the club's history will leave after this season. Old coach Robson failed to reach a contract extension agreement with the top management, and striker Shearer is expected to hang up his boots after the end of this season. Many people in England are paying attention to the future development of the "Magpies". With the joining of Kluivert and the gradual maturity of a generation of new players such as Jenas and Dyer, Newcastle may also embark on a new path of development.

But even so, no one is optimistic about the performance of this Magpie team this season, and in fact, their performance is really nothing outstanding.

At noon on December 4, the Newcastle United bus drove into Stamford Bridge.

At the pre-match press conference, Newcastle United head coach Robson did not talk about the game at all, and the media were not interested in the game. They were more concerned about whether the old coach would continue to coach after leaving Newcastle United and seek development in other clubs.

It can be seen that Robson's expression is a little sad. He said frankly: "I am 72 years old and have been fighting cancer for 14 years. I may die soon, but everyone has this day. I enjoy every minute of my life. I won't think too much, even though I am an old guy out of date."

As for life after leaving Newcastle United, Robson just smiled and said: "My body may allow me to continue for another two years, but I no longer have the energy to adapt to other environments."

Although Mr. Robson did not answer this question directly, it can still be heard from his words that the old coach no longer wants to continue coaching. If Newcastle United renews his contract with him, he may continue to work for another two years. If not, he will directly announce his retirement from football.

Seeing this situation, even if some media want to satirize and ridicule Newcastle United's current performance, they can't open their mouths. No matter what, old Robson is a respected legendary coach in England. He once led the England team to the World Cup: In the 1986 World Cup, England lost 1-2 to Maradona's "Hand of God" in the quarter-finals; In the 1990 World Cup, Robson led England to the semi-finals, but lost to West Germany in a penalty shootout and failed to enter the final, but this is still the best record created by England in the World Cup in the past 40 years.

The head coaches of the 20 Premier League teams, even though many people like to take advantage of him verbally, everyone respects the 71-year-old man from the bottom of their hearts, even Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United or the "madman" Jose Mourinho.

The pre-match press conference was lukewarm and harmonious, but things became extremely heated on the field. Chelsea's players would not show mercy just because the opposing coach was old.

There are many reasons why Newcastle United's record is not good, but the main one is that the defense is not strong enough.

The forward line includes Alan Shearer and Kluivert. The strength of these two legendary stars is unquestionable. Even though their current form is rapidly declining, they are not comparable to ordinary forwards. Coupled with Bellamy who is in his prime, it can be said that Newcastle United's forward line is not weak.

The midfield has grown up players such as Kieron Dyer, Jamien Jenas and Lauren Robert, and the strength of this line should not be underestimated, but the strength of the defense is too poor. From another perspective, there are no outstanding players on this defense line.

Robson may be old but his heart is young. He knows very well that it is impossible for Newcastle United's defense to stop Chelsea's attack, so the team can only fight against Chelsea desperately. Even if this will always be regarded by the media as moths to a flame, there is at least a glimmer of hope for victory.

In the last League Cup, before Wang Li came on as a substitute, Newcastle United was tied 1:1 by Chelsea's substitute lineup at St. James' Park. This time, at Chelsea's home ground at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea sent out all their main players! !

Although luck plays a big role in determining victory or defeat in football matches, for example, in this match, Bellamy scored the first goal for Newcastle United three minutes into the game, but strength is the most important part, so just nine minutes later, Lampard equalized the score for Chelsea with a volley.

Of course, this is not the end.

Newcastle United's first goal was indeed beautiful, and this goal was largely attributed to the legendary star Alan Shearer. His through pass was so precise and sudden, but Shearer is old after all. As time went by, his performance became worse and worse, while Chelsea was making great progress.

In the 34th minute of the game, Wayne Bridge, who had just recovered from the cold virus, made an energetic assist and his shot was blocked by the post. Wang Li suddenly appeared in front of the ball like a shadow, and a light shot helped Chelsea reverse the score.

Shortly after the start of the second half, in a corner kick, the team captain John Terry headed the ball into the goal, scoring another goal for Chelsea.

Leading by three goals, Chelsea players no longer felt any pressure. Many of them almost treated this as a training match. The same was true for Wang Li. He felt that attacking was a bit boring, so he started to play some fancy moves with the ball in the middle, making the Newcastle United players run around in circles, especially Kluivert, who had just come on as a substitute. This talkative Dutchman was dribbled past by Wang Li three times in a row as soon as he came on the field. He couldn't help but keep muttering about "disrespecting predecessors" and so on.

The head coach Mr. Mourinho and others on the sidelines also began to enjoy the game. The opponents were not Arsenal or Manchester United. Even if there was only a two-goal advantage, Mr. Mourinho was sure that the team would win, so he did not say much about the players' behavior.

In the 81st minute of the game, Wang Li scored another goal for Chelsea with a long shot, making the score 4:1. Chelsea won again without a doubt and earned three league points.

It is worth mentioning that in the press conference after the game, Newcastle United's legendary star Alan Shearer joked to reporters: "I didn't exchange jerseys with him in this game because he said my jersey stinks last time, which is really embarrassing."

After hearing what Alan Shearer said, Wang Li, who was attending the press conference with head coach Mourinho, smiled. He explained helplessly, "Actually, that's true. But I have kept that piece of clothing in the collection room and I often go to see it."

Of course, this was absolutely a lie. Wang Li simply added labels to the exchanged jerseys and kept them in a hidden box... However, Alan Shearer felt good after hearing this. He didn't care whether it was true or not. At least this black-haired boy made him save face in front of many reporters. Although he was about to retire this season, he still cared about this.

After Alan Shearer casually dealt with two questions from reporters, most of the media reporters shifted their target to Wang Li. In fact, compared with Alan Shearer, the out-of-date star, Wang Li was the one they needed to pay more attention to. At this time, Alan Shearer did not leave the scene directly because he was treated coldly. Instead, he looked at the black-haired boy surrounded by reporters with interest, wanting to see how he dealt with the questions from these reporters. In fact, Shearer wanted to see the black-haired boy make a fool of himself. You know, an 18-year-old player, no matter how well he performs on the court, will have some immature performance in dealing with reporters, which will often become a handle for reporters.

But what the legendary star did not expect was that the black-haired boy was not nervous at all, and he was smiling all the time. His first answer to the reporter shocked Shearer - "You said the goal? Of course, there is no doubt about it. My goal is to score, score and score again. I am a striker. This is of course the striker's task and can also be regarded as a goal. As for Chelsea, win all the championships! I think we have the hope of winning the quadruple this season."

When Wang Li said these words, he looked calm, as if these things were natural. With Chelsea's strength, they should have won the honor of four championships. This feeling even made Alan Shearer next to him vomit blood in frustration. Even at the peak of his football career, he did not dare to say that his team could win three championships, let alone four championships! ?

However, the reporters in the audience were obviously already accustomed to Wang Li's tone. To them, it seemed like a common occurrence for this black-haired boy to frequently utter such shocking words. What they did was to ignore these words like they did that of the "madman". They didn't need to think too much about them, nor did they need to pay too much attention to them.

But this time they couldn't ignore it.

Because after the game, in the player tunnel, the Dutch boy Arjen Robben, who was happy with his victory, broke a shocking news - "Our goal is to win all the championships. Yes, you heard it right, the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, and even the League Cup are our goals. This goal was set by the club chairman Mr. Abramovich, who also promised a large bonus. Oh, sorry, the amount of the bonus is a secret within the team."

Obviously, compared to Wang Li's frequent revelations, the words of Arjen Robben, who rarely speaks in public, are more convincing. Chelsea's head coach Mourinho and superstar dancer Alan Wang did not lie. Chelsea's goal this season is really the 'quadruple crown'!!!

The next day, this news became the headline of almost all sports newspapers in England!!

"Chelsea's strong reign, aiming for the quadruple crown!!!"

"The Blues strike hard, four championships!!"

"Chelsea, the Arrogant and Ignorant"

...Suddenly, there was a storm of comments in England, with support and opposition, praise and disdain. In this football kingdom, this topic has always been a hot topic among the media and fans.

In this situation, various football legends jumped out and began to comment on Chelsea's goals this season. In the English football world, these people's words are still very influential.

In an interview with The Sun, Chelsea legend Osgood said: "At the beginning of the season, my hope was that they could just win the league and forget about the cup. But now they are winning on all four fronts."

Hollins, who played 600 games for the Blues and also served as a head coach, said: "I don't want to give the team a kiss of death by saying more, but they are indeed very promising. Ranieri changed for the sake of change, but Mourinho seems to know what he is doing. They are the team with the best hope in history to win four championships."

Of course, there are also some former stars who are not optimistic about the quadruple crown.

Winger legend Nevin said: "I think they will win the league, but the quadruple will require a lot of luck."

Peacock, a midfield star in the mid-1990s, said: "It's possible, but I don't think they can do it. It's too easy to get too complacent at this point in time."

"That's too much," said Dorigo, a former full-back. "It's extremely difficult to win four titles."

Spikeman said bluntly: "This is an impossible task."

………Although these celebrities have both support and opposition, the English bookmakers are probably the ones who least want Chelsea's dream to come true. If Chelsea really wins the quadruple, they will suffer extremely heavy losses.

Undoubtedly, for bookmakers, quadruple will be the most terrifying word in the future, but due to Chelsea's strength, it seems more and more realistic for them to win the quadruple. Gambling companies including Ladbrokes and bet365 have complained in the media, hoping to make Chelsea lose at least one trophy, otherwise they may lose all their wealth.

Currently, Ladbrokes offers odds of 21/1 for Chelsea to win the quadruple, while bet365 offers odds as high as 42/1.

According to bet365 spokesman Freese, a considerable amount of money was bet on Chelsea when the odds were as high as 400/1 before the season. Ladbrokes' spokesman even appealed to the media: "If Chelsea gets what they want, it will be the end of the world for us. The League Cup is the easiest trophy, and we pin our hopes on the Champions League. After all, AC Milan and Barcelona are also very strong."

Perhaps the words of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson can give bookmakers some comfort: "The situation is always up and down. A team may do well one minute, but suddenly struggle the next minute. They have not shown any signs of stumbling yet, but that will come sooner or later. How they deal with it will be a test for them."

Although many media outlets have commented on Chelsea's goal of "quadruple crowns", and there are many voices of opposition and disdain, there is no objection to the winner of this season's Premier League championship. Indeed, now that 16 rounds of the league have passed, Chelsea has won all the games and has 48 points, ranking first in the league with an absolute advantage.

Due to Arsenal's recent unstable performance, they are already 13 league points behind Chelsea, while Manchester United's performance has improved recently, which makes Arsenal's second place position quite dangerous.

Looking at the huge 16-point gap between the two teams, Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson had to admit that the possibility of holding Chelsea back was very slim: "Chelsea is now the focus of everyone's attention. They are already 16 points ahead of us, and catching up with them seems to be a distant dream. You know they will be blocked by an unknown opponent one day, but the key is to what extent this level of blockage can slow down their pace."

Interestingly, even Arsenal chairman Wood believes that Ferguson's view is correct: "Chelsea's performance is really like the sun at the top. They have become the target of public criticism. Other teams regard defeating them as the greatest honor."

However, the team's top star Henry does not agree with the chairman's opinion. According to the British "Sun" report, Henry insisted that although Chelsea, currently ranked first in the Premier League, is in high spirits, the Gunners have not completely withdrawn from the competition for the Premier League title: "We must realize that if we want to win the league title this season, we must work harder. This championship will not be easy to come by." Henry firmly believes that the battle between the two sides at Highbury Stadium in two weeks will decide everything, and the winner must be Arsenal.

However, his statement could not be supported by most media and commentators. Even if Chelsea lost the game in a few days, it would only be a 3-point gap. How easy would it be to catch up with the remaining 10 points? ! ?

………No matter what the outside world said, Chelsea, which was at the center of the storm, had no time to care about these things, because three days after the match with Newcastle United, Mr. Mourinho led the team to Porto on Mr. Abramovich's connecting flight.

This last match of the Champions League Group H may be a waste for Chelsea, because they have already qualified for the group stage with 5 wins in 5 games, but it is also very important for Porto. As long as they can win the championship, they can directly advance from the group stage, but if they lose, it will depend on the result of another match between CSKA Moscow and Paris Saint-Germain.

Mr. Fernandez, the coach of Porto, also understands the truth of taking the situation into his own hands. This game is of great significance to Porto. Even without talking about the club's losses, if the defending champion cannot appear in the group, it will become a shame for Porto and even Portuguese football.

Even if we put all these aside, the fact that Mourinho returned to Porto for the first time since his "rebellion" was enough to attract a lot of media attention.

Of course, none of this had any effect on Wang Li. After the team arrived in Porto that day, he pulled Bridge directly into the room and started playing Pro Evolution Soccer on the computer, as if the game had nothing to do with him - in fact, this was because he did not make it into the team's starting lineup.

………

(To be continued)