Chapter 342 Prelude to Performance

Although this goal was scored by Gudjohnsen, Sky TV commentator Graham was not wrong. The most important contributor to the goal was indeed Wang Li. If you watch the entire process of the goal, even people who don't understand football can easily come to this conclusion.

In the eyes of Liverpool players, the sudden arbitrary behavior of the black-haired boy on the other side was indeed beyond their expectations, and the interception of Gerrard's ball just now was also very exciting, at least ordinary players do not have this ability.

In fact, Wang Li's performance this season is very different from last season. When he was in Wolverhampton, due to the limited ability of his teammates, he always took on the offensive tasks of the entire team alone, and other coaches rarely considered the problem of cooperation between him and his teammates when analyzing how to defend him. This season, such cooperation has increased. One reason is that his teammates in Chelsea are indeed stronger than those in Wolverhampton, but the most important reason is that Wang Li's personal ability has improved, his running awareness and passing have improved a lot.

Although Neitez and all the players of the Liverpool team knew that Wang Li had very strong personal abilities, they did not expect him to be so strong. The consecutive interceptions by three players failed to intercept his ball, but instead allowed him to make a very accurate through pass. This seemed incredible to many people. How should we defend against such a player whose personal abilities and coordination were at the master level?

Almost all coaches will think about this problem, but they really can't come up with any good solutions.

At this moment, Benítez in the Liverpool coaching booth was the one who regretted the most. Just a few minutes ago, he had thought about asking the team to strengthen defense and try to keep the score. Even if it was a bit embarrassing, the right to speak always belonged to the winner. No matter what method was used, as long as they won, the fans would not say anything. But now Chelsea had scored a goal. If they started to defend with all their strength now, it would probably be a little late.

But if they don't defend, it wouldn't be strange for Chelsea to score another goal.

These two options kept appearing in Benítez's mind, making the Spaniard hesitate. His eyes were always fixed on the black-haired boy on the field, thinking about the team's next play. Now there were 10 minutes left in the first half. If Chelsea scored another goal, Liverpool's good situation would really change instantly.

Benítez gritted his teeth and his eyes became determined. No matter what, the football match still had to be decided by the result. Even if the fans had some complaints, he had no choice but to do so.

Taking advantage of a throw-in, Benítez called the team captain Gerrard to his side and told him to have the team defend with all their strength for the next period of time. If Liverpool could return to the locker room with a one-goal advantage, then the second half of the game would undoubtedly be much easier, but if the score was tied, the situation would take a sharp turn for the worse, and it would become very difficult to regain the advantage.

Listening to the coach's instructions, Gerrard looked at the black-haired boy on the field who was chatting and laughing freely with his teammates. It was he who single-handedly forced the leading Liverpool into this state. This kind of powerful ability is probably only comparable to those famous stars in history.

As the captain of Liverpool, Gerrard always knows what to do. In fact, he has wanted to implement this tactic for a long time. If it was last season, he would not even discuss it with the head coach. However, Benítez is really capable. After a season of contact, Gerrard still admires the Spaniard very much, so his task on the court has become easier.

However, the English iron midfielder still has his own calculations in mind. He has been in Liverpool for too long but has not been able to win any significant honors. Even though all the fans and coaches know his strength, for a football player, those trophies at home can at least be regarded as a memory.

If he fails to win any honors this season, he might choose to leave.

…………

A lot can happen in five minutes on the football field. After Benítez told Gerrard, Liverpool began to retreat across the board. However, with the momentum of the goal just scored, Chelsea's attack was by no means so easy to defend---

"Oh my God, the ball flew over the crossbar and went out of bounds, Chelsea got a corner kick..."

"Finnan put Frank in front of the penalty area. God hopes he is okay. Chelsea got a free kick opportunity..."

"It seems that he is fine. He walked to the ball again. It seems that Frank is going to take the penalty. Liverpool has arranged a wall of people... Oh my god, what a shot, a tactical free kick. Alan's header was hit by the goalkeeper with both hands. It seems that Dudek performed well today, although he is old enough to be Alan's father..."

"The Dutch kid dribbled the ball, broke through, accelerated and passed Luis. He was very fast and passed the ball... What a chance... The Icelander failed to seize the opportunity. He was blocked by the defender. It was a pity. There was not much time left in the first half."

On Sky TV, Graham's loud shouts continued to ring out, but more often came the screams and shouts of the fans from the TV. Even through the big screen, one could clearly feel the surprise, fear and worry of the home Liverpool fans.

In fact, in the last stage of the first half, Liverpool did encounter a baptism of storms. In 5 minutes, Chelsea made 6 shots. This shocking efficiency made the Red Army players at a loss. Although the scoreboard still showed a score of 1 to 1, no one knew whether the team would lose the ball in the next moment. In the words of the movie, it was too exciting. Of course, no Red Army player in the audience would want to see such an "exciting" game because their team was on the passive side.

Fortunately, after a while, during an off-field ball, the referee finally blew the whistle to end the first half. This whistle became good news for all Liverpool fans and players on the field. If it had continued like this, they didn’t know if they would become exhausted the next moment.

Liverpool coach Benítez on the sidelines also breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, he was the most worried person, but now the team has finally defended until the halftime break, so at least Liverpool's probability of winning is higher.

On the pitch, all the Liverpool players left the pitch in a somewhat listless manner and walked towards the locker room, while the atmosphere at Chelsea was just the opposite, they walked out talking and laughing, and some players were even in the mood to wave towards the Blues fans' stands.

That's what Wang Li did. At his wave, almost all the Blues fans responded enthusiastically. Until Wang Li walked into the player tunnel, they continued to sing the song "Blue, Forward" to increase momentum for Chelsea's second half of the game.

At this time, some of the Red Army fans who were always arrogant at home even lowered their heads, because they had to admit in their hearts that the team played very passively. Chelsea was too strong. Compared with the strength of this team, Liverpool was really nothing. However, losing on the court did not mean that they were willing to be like this off the court, so they immediately sang the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" to fight back. The momentum of tens of thousands of Liverpool fans was terrifying, and the little momentum of the Blues fans was immediately drowned out.

…………

Peter Fedek, a 10-year-old English-born Monegasque, moved to Liverpool with his family a few years ago.

Since coming here, Peter Fedek has fallen in love with football, and often talks with his friends about his favorite big stars. The environment can have a great impact on a child's growth. In Liverpool, almost everything about football is covered by the will of the Red Army, but Peter Fedek has been very decisive since he was a child, and his family is not a traditional Liverpool football family, so he has no good feelings towards Liverpool at all. In the past two years, he has fallen in love with the London team that was built with pounds.

Young people all have heroes in their hearts. In Peter Fedek's view, the black-haired No. 21 is undoubtedly the hero in his mind. When Liverpool fans talk about the game between the two teams, he always thinks that Chelsea is stronger, and therefore he is always looked down upon and bullied by his friends.

However, Peter Fedek did not change his opinion, at least, he stuck to his will.

Although both of them were teenagers who loved football, Peter Fedek never watched football with his friends because that would lead to conflicts. Everyone supported Liverpool, but he was the only one who supported Chelsea, which would obviously lead to a conflict. He had no idea how many times he had been bullied for this reason.

But today is different.

When Peter Fedek came to the outskirts of Anfield and wanted to get close to Chelsea's stars, he met many Blues fans wearing blue jerseys and holding up the Chelsea logo, so he joined them.

It is really not easy to meet a real Blues fan in Liverpool. These Blues fans were also very happy. When watching the game together, they all regarded little Peter as the protagonist. So little Peter became everyone's baby, and he received a completely different "game watching treatment" from before.

Although Chelsea was one goal behind in the first half, these die-hard Blues fans never thought the team would lose. They just drank beer with each other and discussed how many goals Chelsea would score in the second half.

This is the confidence that Chelsea's strong performance this season has brought to these Blues fans. They believe in everything about the team and have unparalleled confidence in every game.

…………

Peter Fedek found his organization and was happily communicating with his new friends. However, inside the stadium, the atmosphere in the two teams' locker rooms was completely different. The strangest thing was that this difference was completely opposite to the score shown on the scoreboard of the stadium.

In the visiting team's locker room, Chelsea players were happily talking about the first half of the game, as if it was not them who were behind, but Liverpool. When coach Mourinho entered the locker room, he just said "continue to attack in the second half", which did not disturb the players' interest.

The home team's locker room was a bit dull.

Facing the gaze of head coach Benítez, many Liverpool players lowered their heads. They were really ashamed of their performance in the first half.

However, Nenites has always behaved like a gentleman and paid attention to his image even in the locker room. No matter what, the team is now leading, and he has no reason to reprimand the performance of these players.

But in fact, he knew very well that these players had performed very well.

In the final stage of the first half, they defended the goal despite Chelsea's intense attack. It has to be said that this had something to do with luck, but it was also inseparable from the performance of the players. However, it is obvious that due to the absolute performance gap between the two teams, the team's morale has suffered an unprecedented blow. What Benítez has to do is to comfort these players and increase their confidence in the game so that they can play better in the second half.

"We performed really badly in the first half. The team was completely at a disadvantage, but the opponent also performed worse. The score on the field now proves this."

Benítez's opening was indeed a bit strange. Seeing the players all raised their heads in confusion, the Spaniard continued contentedly: "Don't be blinded by the situation on the field."

"Although I admit that Chelsea is very strong, they are not yet at the level of being able to completely suppress Liverpool at Anfield. This is our home ground. The reason why the team was at a disadvantage in the first half was not because the opponent was too strong or played too well, but more of a tactical problem."

“…Is that so?”

Gerrard couldn't help but ask after hearing what the Spaniard said. He was indeed a little confused. Even in the last game at Stamford Bridge, the team didn't play so passively. This time, the opponent's formation didn't change at all, but they suffered a greater disadvantage at their home ground. This was indeed very confusing.

"certainly."

Benítez glanced at Gerrard, as if he was a little dissatisfied with his simple question, and then continued: "It's a tactical problem. You know, we are playing a defensive counterattack. Maybe many people wonder why we were not so passive in the last defensive counterattack against Manchester United? What I want to say is that among the current Premier League teams, Chelsea is stronger than Manchester United, and their strength is indeed stronger than Liverpool."

Seeing the players lower their heads in agreement, Benítez said, "But, in football, the key to victory or defeat is not strength. If there is a gap in strength between the two teams, the weaker side will definitely lose. Then what is the point of football matches? Why not just let the football experts judge?"

"In the first half, we were ahead. What does this mean? It means our tactics were correct. So what if Chelsea is strong? They are now in a backward position. And now there are tens of thousands of Red Army fans watching you. Do I need to say more about how to play in the second half?"

Benítez looked at the players' expressions and nodded with satisfaction when he walked out of the locker room. He knew his words had worked. For Liverpool, they had not won a championship for so many years, which made the hearts of these old players as hard as rocks. A little setback could not knock them down.

As long as these players regain their confidence, it is still unclear who will win.

…………

After the start of the second half, Chelsea players clearly felt that the opponent was more threatening.

Liverpool's morale was not dampened by the attack in the first half. Instead, they became more powerful and their players were better at grabbing balls and running, which caused Chelsea's attack to encounter a lot of trouble for a period of time.

However, Chelsea players were not shocked by this. As a century-old northern English powerhouse, it would be unexpected if Liverpool could be defeated by a simple few minutes of attack.

But just doing this is far from enough to defend against Chelsea's attack and create chances to score goals.

At least, that's what Wang Li thought.

Just like Makelele said to him, he hasn't experienced the feeling of losing for a long time, and now, he doesn't want to experience it either. Although this is just an ordinary league game, with so many fans paying attention, if he really loses, then as a player on the field, a core player of Chelsea's offense, he will never feel good. The consequence of not trying his best is that when the game is over, he will feel ashamed in front of so many fans who have always supported him.

Therefore, after Chelsea stabilized their position and launched a wave of attacks, Wang Li stayed near the penalty area, waiting for the team's attack at any time and preparing to shoot when he got the chance.

In fact, his current position and approach are more like a shadow striker.

Although the attack coordinated with his teammates was indeed fierce, facing Liverpool's "defense and counterattack" tactics, Chelsea's coordination was really not effective, and Wang Li could only rely on his own ability to find shooting opportunities.

As a terrifyingly efficient striker who scored more than 40 goals in 20 league games, Wang Li received "special care" from Liverpool defenders. However, their care had little impact on Wang Li's performance, as he is no longer the "rookie" who had just entered the Premier League.

As Wang Li received passes from his teammates again and again in front of the penalty area, and then casually chose to take long shots or pass the ball to his teammates, the hearts of the Red Army fans and supporters in the stadium were in their throats, because they didn't know whether this black-haired boy would kick a shot that would go through the goal in the next moment.

On the contrary, Chelsea coach Mourinho laughed. In fact, he hadn't seen Wang Li play so hard for a long time, but he knew---

If this black-haired boy exerts 100% of his strength, it will definitely be amazing.