Chapter 1 The Training

The training at Field Number One went smoothly. Of the nine Liverpool reserve team players brought to the first team by Clark, six stayed, and the remaining three were sent back.

Although Clark did say they could join the first team for the League Cup semi-final tomorrow.

But in the entire Liverpool team, across all levels, only Martin O'Neill was the one whose word truly mattered. Anyone else's words were not the final decision.

It would be chaos if an assistant coach's words carried more weight than the head coach's.

Bringing nine players didn't mean Martin O'Neill would actually keep all nine. He had to see their condition and ability to determine if they could truly handle a League Cup semi-final.

The final result was six qualified and three eliminated.

Even the six who remained shouldn't be too happy, because they might not get a chance to start.

The League Cup's substitute list allows for seven players, so it wouldn't be surprising if all six were placed on the bench.

If Martin O'Neill hadn't considered giving the first team as much rest as possible, he wouldn't have used any reserve team players at all.

Because the opponent in this League Cup semi-final was weak, Blackburn, Martin O'Neill gave the reserves a chance, selecting nine players from there, which eventually became six.

The three who were eliminated returned to Field Number Two with dejected expressions, making them feel ashamed under everyone's surprised gazes.

But the teammates quickly understood. Some were indignant, others gloated.

Finally, someone voiced their question during training, "We played in all the previous matches, so why should we give up our spots for the semi-final?"

Coincidentally, assistant coach Clark was passing by as this player complained and overheard him.

He immediately stopped, his expression stern and intimidating, and walked up to the unlucky guy.

"What did you say, Evan? How can you say that? You're part of Liverpool, you all wear the Liverpool jersey when you play. When you go out there, you're all Liverpool players. Why differentiate? Liverpool is a whole, not scattered sand divided into several teams!"

His tone was severe, and his words were heavy.

This was indeed a serious issue. As a member of Liverpool, one should be proud of Liverpool's achievements, not distinguish between the first and second teams.

Poor Evan lowered his head, not daring to say a word, after being scolded.

Clark's reprimand of Evan also attracted the attention of other reserve team players.

Clark looked around, studying the reserve team players. He recalled how disappointed and pained these people looked after learning they couldn't participate in the League Cup semi-final.

He seemed to lack the confidence to continue scolding the crestfallen Evan.

He sighed and said, "Remember, Evan. The name on the front of your jersey is much more important than the name on the back..." After speaking, he patted Evan on the shoulder as a form of comfort.

"Alright, alright, continue training! Continue training!" After walking away, he blew his whistle.

※※※

In the League Cup semi-final the next day, Liverpool fielded four second-team players, and the other seven were first-team players.

The media wasn't surprised by Martin O'Neill's sudden deployment of a first-team lineup.

This was only natural. Everyone guessed that once the cup reached the semi-final stage, the championship would be the only goal for every head coach. It would be idiotic to train the team at this point. Utilitarianism was everyone's common goal.

The only ones who were disappointed and unhappy were probably Blackburn. They were still fantasizing that Liverpool would continue to field Chen Hero and ten reserve team players, giving them confidence to fight Liverpool.

Who knew Liverpool wouldn't grant their wish.

Many Blackburn fans cursed Liverpool as cowards.

But their voices didn't reach the Liverpool players' ears, and the Liverpool players didn't care about their opinions.

Victory was the only goal pursued by all Liverpool players at this time.

In the end, the Liverpool first team defeated Blackburn 3:1 in the semi-final.

Securing a ticket to Wembley Stadium.

Chen Hero continued his outstanding performance in the League Cup, scoring twice and being the biggest contributor to the team's entry into the final.

"As always, Hero shows his power, and then Liverpool enters the final. Actually, it doesn't matter whether the people standing next to Hero are familiar stars or unknown reserve team players, because the result is the same—relying on Chen Hero, Liverpool wins."

"Hero is the most dazzling player in this afternoon's game. Since the third round of the League Cup, the biggest and only contributor to Liverpool's entry into the final is Chen Hero. Without Hero, I dare say that the Liverpool second team would have only made it to the quarter-finals of the League Cup at most. It was Chen Hero who injected the energy to continue moving forward into that team!"

"As long as there is Hero, Liverpool can win. A rotten team can be transformed and become an irresistible force with him! His performance and experience in the League Cup fully prove this!"

After the game, many media outlets were desperately singing praises for Chen Hero. To highlight Chen Hero's towering image, the Liverpool second team was reduced to a "rotten team."

No one interviewed the "rotten team" players about their feelings. Their feelings were not important to everyone. The only reason they could appear in the news and be seen in the media before was because they were Chen Hero's teammates; they were benefiting from Chen Hero's light.

Logically speaking, benefiting from one game was enough, but unexpectedly, they won three games in one go. In the eyes of others, they should be grateful for this result. How could they dare to have complaints and dissatisfaction?

So the media, who were always eager to stir up trouble, let go of a gimmick that might have been worth hyping...

※※※

A day later, Liverpool's opponent in the League Cup final was revealed.

Another League Cup semi-final was played between two teams from Manchester. It was a Manchester derby. Manchester United challenged Manchester City away.

After ninety minutes of hard fighting, Manchester City narrowly defeated their city rivals 3:2, securing a ticket to the League Cup final.

However, Manchester United did not send out their full strength in this game.

Obviously, Ferguson thought the League Cup was dispensable. He didn't want multi-line battles to distract his firepower. Manchester United's elite forces had to concentrate on the league, reclaiming the lost league title from Liverpool. This was the top priority of the season. As for a League Cup title, who cared?

He even hoped that Liverpool could have a good fight with Manchester City in the final. No matter what the final result was, as long as both sides were exhausted, it would be a success.

Ferguson didn't know the Chinese idiom "when the snipe and clam grapple, the fisherman benefits," but he understood the principle.

Let Manchester City and Liverpool fight to the death in the League Cup final! I'll sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, waiting for a good show.

Sure enough, after Manchester City defeated Manchester United, they seemed to be particularly high-spirited. Several players ridiculed Manchester United's current decline at the first opportunity and then excitedly said that meeting Liverpool in the League Cup final was the best possible outcome.

"This is an important occasion, very suitable for us to take revenge. As long as we can defeat Liverpool in the League Cup final, we can avenge all the previous grudges!"

Manchester City fans also said that they would occupy Wembley Stadium at that time and let Liverpool taste their power.

Some fans said that they had already thought of songs and slogans to ridicule and mock Liverpool at the award ceremony, asking everyone to learn them as soon as possible, so that they could be used to attack Liverpool at that time.

Look at this lively scene, as if they had already defeated Liverpool.

As for Ferguson, he didn't care about the media's criticism and pessimistic voices about his loss in the semi-final. He knew very well that enduring humiliation at this time was for the final outbreak. When the time came, he would definitely make those who look down on him and laugh at him pay the price!

※※※

After the two League Cup semi-finals ended, the media very restrainedly hyped up the grievances between Liverpool and Manchester City for only one day, and then stopped. Everything returned to a calm state.

It's not that the media have discovered their conscience and no longer hype things up.

But they know that it is meaningless to hype up this final now, because there is still a month before the final. If all the enthusiasm is hyped up now, what will happen when it is needed?

Suppress it now, and then it will explode.

The media are best at whetting people's appetites.

Therefore, the impact of the League Cup only lasted for one day, and everyone's attention was shifted to the FIFA Ballon d'Or awards.

This award was nothing to Chen Hero.

He took the time to go to Zurich, stood on the stage for more than ten minutes, and then watched Neymar from Barcelona receive the Ballon d'Or from FIFA President Blatter. He applauded as a matter of routine and stepped down.

His performance at this awards ceremony was quite satisfactory, because everyone was quite satisfactory. Messi knew he had no chance, so he was very low-key. Neymar didn't mention Chen Hero's name throughout the whole process. He didn't know if it was intentional or unnecessary to mention it. Anyway, he and Chen Hero still had no anxiety.

The only thing Chen Hero was happy about was that he defeated Messi in this selection. Neymar was first, he was second, winning the Silver Ball, and Messi could only hold the Bronze Ball and take pictures with the other two.

The media were desperately trying to get Chen Hero to say something explosive. For example, comment on Neymar, comment on Messi.

Some media bluntly asked him what he thought of Messi only winning the Bronze Ball.

Although Chen Hero didn't like Messi and Barcelona, he didn't need to be used as a tool by others...

Compared to Messi, he hated being used as a tool by others even more.

So he was very low-key and didn't say anything, returning to Liverpool with his Silver Ball.

The media were disappointed, but Chen Hero didn't care about them.