Chapter 225 After the Transfer Period

After confirming that they would not buy any more new players, there were other issues to discuss.

One very important issue was how to integrate Liverpool's new players into the team.

It was important to ensure that every player who joined the team could integrate as quickly as possible, adapting to life in Liverpool, so that they could train and play without distractions, and thus be able to perform to their true potential.

In this regard, the three captains had a major role to play.

They were the bridge between the locker room and the coach. If there were any problems in the locker room, they could report them to the coach, who would then find a way to solve them.

"I don't think there's a problem," Gerrard said. "Thornton, McCarthy, Kelly, and Smithies have all been playing in the English leagues for many years. Kelly and Smithies are even English, so they shouldn't have any problems adapting to life in Liverpool and our style of football."

"Thornton has absolutely no problems!" Chen Hero also added. But he only said this one sentence because there were more things he shouldn't tell his coach...

Thornton and Balotelli were good friends. They had even been with the same woman, which showed what kind of character Thornton had.

That's right, he was fun and liked to play.

So the Eating, Drinking, and Playing Group was simply tailor-made for Thornton... He had no problem integrating into the team at all. On his first day with the team, he had connected with Chen Hero through Balotelli's connections. Chen Hero also liked this lively and playful Italian and quickly officially absorbed him into the Eating, Drinking, and Playing Group. With the help of several members of the Eating, Drinking, and Playing Group, could Thornton have any problems adapting to the team and life in Liverpool?

Gerrard turned to look at Chen Hero. Of course, he knew what Chen Hero meant by that.

Martin O'Neill also gave Chen Hero a meaningful look. He knew it too, but even Chen Hero knew that some things were not good to say in person, so naturally, he would not say them in person either…

"What about Pepe?" He turned to ask another person.

This question from Martin O'Neill had to be answered by Reina.

Reina was Spanish, and Pepe came from Real Madrid in La Liga. The two had no language barriers, so Reina had been helping Pepe integrate into the team.

As soon as he heard the coach's question, Reina smiled: "Boss, let me tell you a joke..."

"Hmm?"

"Pepe has only been here for a few days, and he told me that he especially likes the Premier League."

"Why?"

"Because here, many of his actions will not be called fouls, they are normal and reasonable defensive actions! He said that in Spain, these actions of his would at least be a yellow card... He now feels that he no longer has to play football in shackles."

Gerrard and Hero next to him laughed.

Martin O'Neill also had a smile on his face after hearing this.

He knew that Pepe shouldn't have any problems adapting to the English style of football. There were also people taking care of the things in his life, so he didn't have to worry too much.

The only problem was Götze. He was German, and there was not a single German in the Liverpool squad right now. However, Klasnić had played in the Bundesliga for many years, so he could still communicate with Götze in terms of language, and the two could chat. But in terms of adapting to the team's tactics and life in Liverpool, Klasnić couldn't help him much.

But Götze was one of the most important players in Martin O'Neill's plan. He had to ensure his form, had to perform to his potential, and had to get a lot of playing time. If he was in poor form, didn't cooperate well with his teammates, and couldn't adapt to life and football here for a long time, it would be a disaster for both Götze and Liverpool.

Götze's problem had to be solved.

And it couldn't just be Klasnić helping Götze, there had to be a captain to help him.

Martin O'Neill's gaze swept across the faces of the three captains.

Gerrard mainly helped the English players adapt to the team, Reina helped Pepe, Chen Hero helped Thornton... Hell, what kind of help was that? Thornton didn't need his help at all! Let him go and help Götze!

"Hero, help Götze, help him adapt to the team and life here." Martin O'Neill emphasized the word "life."

Chen Hero was stunned for a moment, and then pointed to himself in surprise: "Me?"

Martin O'Neill nodded.

"Yes, you."

"But I don't speak German!"

"Football is a universal language. I believe you can find a common language from football itself."

Chen Hero wanted to roll his eyes. That was said too easily. If football was so much of a universal language, then there wouldn't be so many players who would decline in a new environment because of language barriers.

"Don't worry, Hero, Götze is working hard to learn English. He also hopes to succeed in Liverpool. He is a very motivated person..." Niang saw Chen Hero's dissatisfaction and comforted and explained with a smile.

What else could Chen Hero say?

He shrugged helplessly: "Okay, I promise. But I don't guarantee it will work. I'll do my best."

"That's enough for us to know that you are a man of your word and will definitely do what you say." Martin O'Neill took the opportunity to put a high hat on Chen Hero, of course, it was also forcing Chen Hero to complete the task.

※※※

Next, they continued the meeting to discuss the topics.

As everyone talked, they talked about the mission objectives for the new season.

The league championship goal of the previous season was also determined at the pre-season meeting.

They had to establish a goal for this season as well.

Last season it was the league title, so what would it be this season?

"I think we should defend the league title first," Gerrard said. "First consolidate our advantage in the country. Completely crush Manchester United, so they have no strength to resist, and then develop towards Europe."

Gerrard's proposal was based on the core idea of "pacifying the domestic before resisting the foreign," which was a very reasonable proposal.

Reina and Martin O'Neill both nodded in agreement, thinking that Gerrard made a lot of sense.

Martin O'Neill himself thought so too.

Judging from this summer's transfer market, Manchester United was not reconciled to last season's failure. They wanted to reorganize the old mountains and rivers and start all over again. Therefore, in the domestic arena, Liverpool would face very fierce competition, and if they were not careful, they might fall from the league championship position.

Anyway, Ferguson wouldn't be able to do it for a few more years. Martin O'Neill planned to completely suppress Manchester United domestically. After Ferguson retired and the threat of Manchester United was resolved, he would consider making a grand plan in the Champions League and win Liverpool's sixth Champions League trophy.

But one person disagreed with this plan.

"Why do we have to win one championship a year?" Chen Hero asked.

Everyone looked at each other, wondering what Chen Hero meant by asking this question.

"Why can't we win several championships at the same time? Before, it was because our squad was thin and we were afraid that we couldn't cope with multiple battles, but we bought so many people this summer, why can we still only win one championship?" Chen Hero continued. "Last season we were the league champions, why can't we win the treble this season?"

Hearing him say that, the mouths of the people next to him were so wide that they couldn't close them.

"Oh, no..."

They breathed a sigh of relief—it seemed that Chen Hero was still a normal person...

"It's the quadruple, England has one more cup competition. Why can't we win the quadruple?"

Everyone felt that they didn't understand Hero's world...

Niang watched Chen Hero with great interest.

After Gerrard reacted, he asked: "Hero, we only won one league title last season, and this season you want to win all the championships... Isn't this a bit too big of a step?"

Chen Hero waved his hand and said nonchalantly: "You have to take bigger steps, and you have to be bolder... What are you afraid of?"

"Aren't you afraid of taking too big of a step and tearing your balls?" Gerrard spent all day with Chen Hero, so he knew the allusion of "tearing your balls."

Chen Hero spread his hands and shrugged: "Don't be afraid. If you warm up well, you won't tear them. Didn't we warm up by buying so many people in the summer transfer window?"

A group of people was surprised by Chen Hero's confidence. They had to know that he wasn't just confident in himself. If he was just confident in himself, everyone wouldn't be surprised, because not only was he confident in himself, they were also confident in him. But now this was a matter of being confident in the whole team, which was not up to him, Chen Hero, alone...

To compete for the championship, you can't rely on one person, you have to rely on the whole team, but it is inevitable that something will happen during the season, such as a main player getting injured, fatigue, or bad luck. Even one of these accidents could cause the team to lose the championship.

Why was Chen Hero so confident?

They naturally didn't know that Chen Hero wasn't confident, but was forced into a dead end. He had no other way to do it except this—he wanted to compete with Messi for the number of honors. If he went at the rate of one championship a year as everyone said, he would have to play until he was fifty years old. That's why he wanted to win all the championships that the team could win in a season.

And it wasn't just this season, his goal would remain the same for all future seasons—to win all the championship honors that could be won.

This wasn't a matter of having confidence or not, even if he didn't have confidence, he had to do it. Because if he didn't try, he wouldn't even have a bit of chance of success. Chen Hero just wanted to express his attitude, he wanted to try to do this.

He didn't expect that his proposal would not be supported by everyone. Everyone thought his idea was too crazy, it had exceeded the scope of normal craziness and reached the point of madness. If he did it according to his requirements, the team would be very tired and the pressure would be very high. In this way, the team might collapse before the end of the league season.

In the end, everyone adopted Gerrard's suggestion and focused on the domestic league. They would completely knock their arch-rivals Manchester United to the ground and step on them with hundreds of millions of feet, so that they would never be able to turn over.

Although he didn't get support, Chen Hero wasn't discouraged. He knew that even if he focused on the domestic league, Liverpool couldn't completely give up the other events, especially the Champions League. Just like last season, the team had reached the semi-finals. If they could eventually reach the final, he didn't believe that Martin O'Neill and Gerrard would really give up this final just to compete with Manchester United in the domestic league.

He wasn't strong enough last season.

This time, he wouldn't let the same thing happen a second time.

Whether it was the domestic league, the Champions League, or the FA Cup, he wouldn't let go of even the League Cup!

You don't agree now, I'll force you to accept this goal!

When the three cup competitions all reach the final, I'll see if you are willing to give up! I'm afraid that even if I want to give up, you won't agree, right? Ha!