Throughout February, Liverpool continued their excellent cup form, but their league performance remained erratic.

On February 6th, in the twenty-fourth round of the league, Liverpool drew 1-1 with Tottenham Hotspur at home. Chen Hero continued to score, but still couldn't bring the team a victory.

On February 11th, in the focus match of the twenty-fifth round of the league, Liverpool lost to Manchester United 1-2 away. Manchester United breathed a sigh of relief, while Liverpool continued to struggle in the quagmire of eighth place in the league.

Chen Hero scored in four consecutive rounds, scoring five goals in the four league games, but only brought four points to the team.

He tried his best in every game, but Liverpool's overall state fluctuated, sometimes good and sometimes bad.

Now everyone can see that Liverpool's problem is indeed no longer Chen Hero's form, but that the entire team has rotted from the root.

Some people even began to question Chen Hero's impulsive transfer decision. If he had continued to stay in Napoli, or gone to another team, he would definitely be a hundred times more successful than he is now.

It's not that Chen Hero's ability is not good, but that Liverpool is holding him back. Many people feel that if this situation continues, Chen Hero will be gradually forgotten because he is in a team like Liverpool that can't even participate in the Europa League, and he will fall from the peak of the world to the bottom, smashing to pieces.

Chen Hero's momentum last season was actually very good. If he could transfer to a popular giant, he would definitely be able to go to the next level.

For example, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United, Bayern, and even the Milan duo would have been good.

But he chose Liverpool.

Did he think that he could bring Liverpool out of the quagmire and restore its glory by his own strength?

Wishful thinking!

Football is a collective sport. Even though Maradona was revered as God in Napoli, he also had people like Careca to assist him. Otherwise, relying on him alone, he wouldn't be able to do it.

Chen Hero thought he could become Liverpool's God, but now he is fighting alone.

※※※

While their league results were poor, Liverpool had good luck and good results in the FA Cup.

In the fifth round of the FA Cup, they drew Championship team Brighton, and they were playing at home.

This time, Dalglish did not continue to send out the full starting lineup. Because just seven days later, Liverpool would usher in the League Cup final at Wembley Stadium, and their opponent was Cardiff City.

In order to ensure the physical strength and condition of the main players, most of them would not play in the FA Cup match against Brighton, and some didn't even make the squad.

Chen Hero was the one who didn't even make the squad.

His replacement was Suarez.

Suarez resumed training at the beginning of February. He came on as a substitute at the end of the last game against Manchester United, and officially returned to the field.

But his condition still needed to be restored. He didn't contribute anything to the team when he appeared in the game against Manchester United.

Now the FA Cup match against Brighton was a great opportunity. The team was playing at home, the opponent was not strong, and the pressure was relatively light.

As for Chen Hero, he appeared in the VIP box of Anfield Stadium with the injured Gerrard, watching the game live. At the same time, he was also cheering for Suarez, who was making his first start after recovering from his injury.

After that incident, he and Suarez became real friends. Although he offended all Manchester City fans because of this, Chen Hero thought it was worth it.

In the end, Liverpool defeated Brighton 6-1 at home.

However, after Chen Hero was gone, Liverpool's offensive power still exposed huge problems—this sounds unreasonable, it's already 6-1, and there are still problems with the offensive power? What kind of offensive power is not a problem?

But if you consider that three of the six goals were own goals given by the opponent, it can explain the problem...

Poor Brighton scored a total of four goals in this game, and Liverpool only scored three. In theory, the score should be 4-3, and Brighton should have advanced. But Brighton's players made a mistake in the direction of the goal, and they scored three goals into their own net. Among them, their midfielder, Liam Bridcutt, was the tragic figure of the day. He scored twice in the game, but both were into his own goal.

You know, although Liverpool, who were playing at home, scored a goal by Skrtel in the first five minutes, Brighton's midfielder, LuaLua, equalized for the team in the seventeenth minute.

After that, Liverpool couldn't find a way to score.

If the game continued like this, it would be really hard to say who would win in the end.

At this time, Brighton's tragic figure Bridcutt stepped forward and rescued the increasingly impatient Liverpool people.

He scored his first own goal of the game.

You know, it was already the forty-fourth minute at this time. With one minute to go, Brighton could proudly walk into the locker room with a draw, while Liverpool's players would continue to bear huge pressure.

His goal greatly hit Brighton's morale, and allowed Liverpool's players to escape a disaster. At least their days at halftime would be much better.

Sure enough, only twelve minutes into the second half, Kuyt scored a goal for the team, and the score became 3-1. And Brighton began to collapse.

Bridcutt added fuel to the fire at this time, scoring another own goal. This time, even the commentators of the game couldn't stand it anymore, and kept moaning: "Oh my God... Oh my God... Poor Bridcutt, unlucky Bridcutt, he's really unlucky..."

This was not the end. Three minutes after Bridcutt scored an own goal, Brighton's defender, Dunk, also scored an own goal, and the score became 5-1. The game completely lost its suspense.

After watching such a game, it is really difficult to have too much interest in victory. Liverpool's victory really depended on luck. Their performance in the first half was a disgrace.

Dalglish also admitted after the game that the team's victory was not worth celebrating, because "our performance was terrible..."

The only thing that comforted him was that Suarez, who was making his first start after recovering from his injury, was in good condition. He scored the sixth goal for the team near the end of the game... no, it should be the third goal, locking the score at 6-1.

The media also said after the game that Suarez's state was a relief to many people—in the past three months, Liverpool could only rely on Chen Hero. Chen Hero was obviously unable to support the team alone. Suarez's return would greatly reduce his pressure and provide more firepower for the team.

It seems that Suarez has a good chance of starting in the League Cup final... This is another insurance for Liverpool, who are determined to win the championship.

※※※

February 26th should have been the match day for the twenty-sixth round of the Premier League, and the other eighteen teams were in full swing. According to the original schedule, Liverpool should have welcomed the two hundred and seventeenth Merseyside derby at home.

Now this game has been postponed to March 13th to make way for the League Cup final.

Liverpool's opponent in the final is Cardiff City, a team from the Championship.

They are not in the same league at all. Many people think this is a great opportunity for Liverpool to end their embarrassing record of not winning a championship in six years.

Even the local media in Cardiff are not optimistic that the team can defeat the powerful Liverpool—although Liverpool's performance in the league is not very strong, they are still the undisputed kings in cup competitions.

But why does Dalglish feel a little uneasy?

The night before the game, the team stayed at a hotel in London. Tomorrow afternoon they will go to the new Wembley Stadium.

He had done everything he should do. He had reviewed the tactical meeting, and he was sure that everyone knew what they should do in tomorrow's game. He had also held a meeting with the coaching staff. He was well prepared for this final.

But why does he feel so uneasy?

Looking at the time, it was still early before the required bedtime, so he decided to go to the hotel bar for a couple of drinks.

This is a good way to relax. He might be a little too nervous... After being away from the front line for twelve years, this is the first time he has led a team to a final.

Even the King of Anfield has nervous moments.

※※※

He met Chen Hero in the bar.

In fact, there were not only Chen Hero in the bar, but also many Liverpool players. According to Liverpool's team rules, players are prohibited from going out for twenty-four hours before any game, so on this final eve, if you don't want to stare at boring TV shows in your room, you can only choose limited entertainment in the hotel—you can drink alcohol, but you can't drink too much, just a little. In addition, you can play billiards or table tennis in the billiard room or table tennis room. Other than that, there are no other good entertainment options.

Some people bring their own entertainment tools to the hotel. They are like moving, filling their luggage with various game consoles.

Chen Hero was drinking at the bar.

He had just used his laptop to go online and look at the task list, and he had obtained several new tasks—"League Cup Champion" required him to help the team win the League Cup. It was considered a team task, and no matter how well he performed, as long as Liverpool won the championship, he would have completed it.

"Six Years Without a Title" required Chen Hero to score at least one goal in the final to help the team win the championship and end the embarrassment of not having a title in six years.

There was also a new task, but this new task was an upgraded version of the previous task...

"Farewell Gift for the King: Grand Slam": The King is leaving the team. As a club legend, he should have a decent farewell. If you can defeat your opponent in the final and help the team win the championship trophy, I think he will be very pleased. You know, he supports you and cares about you so much. Maybe his relationship with your friends is terrible, but he has never blamed you. Kenny is a good person, and an excellent player and coach. As a player and coach, he has won all the championship honors he can get, but he is only one League Cup away. If he can win the League Cup, he will become the second coach after Ferguson and Mourinho to win the Grand Slam. He will also be the first person to have won the Grand Slam as both a player and a coach. This is a very remarkable achievement, and a great farewell gift, isn't it?

In addition to the previous two rewards, a new talent reward has been added—"King's Ball Control Skills", which improves Chen Hero's stability and accuracy in controlling the ball with his feet. For Hero, this is also a good reward.

He was drinking a little wine here, considering how to complete the task, when Dalglish appeared beside him.