Lin Hai Ting Tao
Chapter 811 Reunited with My Teacher (First Update, Seeking Monthly Tickets!)
He ended by saying that if there were similar events in the future, they should remember not to offer such high odds, or next time, he might not be the only one betting.
The betting companies were then mocked by the media for quite some time.
The incident became a laughing matter. The BBC's "Match of the Day" even mentioned it as a humorous tidbit.
After Chen Hero's rant against "Match of the Day," some people worried that Chen Hero would be blacklisted by the show, which was particularly popular in England. Especially Chinese fans. However, this did not happen. On the one hand, the British media did not have the habit of blacklisting players. On the other hand, people in English football circles often blacklisted the media. Ferguson was a master at this; he would blacklist the media for various reasons.
Another reason was that Chen Hero was currently the hottest player in the Premier League. He had scored three goals in the first two league games, ranking him first in the scoring charts. How could a program like "Match of the Day" avoid talking about such a popular player? Ignoring Chen Hero would mean the Premier League would lose at least a third of its luster.
This was similar to how China's "天下足球" (Tianxia Zuqiu, "World Football") always felt somewhat "in name only" because they couldn't use highlights from Premier League matches due to copyright issues.
So Chen Hero's goal against Aston Villa was featured on "Match of the Day."
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Chen Hero earned some money through his efforts and the help of his teammates, and those he had informed also won money with him. Could be considered a win-win, right?
Having won some money, Chen Hero generously invited teammates who wanted to come over to his house as guests.
This was the second party Chen Hero had hosted this season. Liverpool media had given him the nickname "Party Prince," meaning he was enthusiastic about hosting all kinds of parties.
Hosting parties at home, letting everyone have fun and relax together, was a win-win.
Since everyone was on the same team, as long as the relationships weren't particularly strained, they could still get along. For Chen Hero's sake, almost the entire team came.
Everyone had a great time together.
In fact, Chen Hero often organized similar events, and everyone was happy to attend. After all, it was a chance to relax and have fun. It was better to have someone organize it than for them to rack their brains trying to figure out how to have fun.
And… he was paying for everything himself, not asking other players to chip in. Free food, free drinks, free fun – how generous!
Food, drink, and entertainment were the best ways to win people over. Chen Hero's status in the team was increasing day by day. He had almost surpassed vice-captain Carragher and was on par with Gerrard.
Everyone knew that Gerrard was getting old and didn't have many years left. His influence in the team was gradually declining. At least after Martin O'Neill arrived, he relied more on Gerrard and Chen Hero, while Carragher was just a substitute.
More people were also willing to befriend someone as generous and magnanimous as Chen Hero. In critical moments, he might be able to help you out in a big way.
Just like he had done for Suarez in the past.
Chen Hero didn't know that his status in the eyes of his teammates was getting higher and higher. He organized frequent gatherings partly because he liked to have fun himself, and partly to dispel his loneliness when Cabral was not around. He had been behaving himself during this time, not going to nightclubs, so as not to leave Cabral with too bad an impression – even though Cabral already knew what kind of person he was, he still had to put on a show, right? If you weren't even willing to put on a show, you were disrespecting people. If you put on a show, at least you were showing some respect.
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After the party, the team resumed training. The team's next league opponent was Chelsea.
This was a formidable enemy.
Last season, under the leadership of interim manager Di Matteo, Chelsea ultimately reversed the situation against Tottenham Hotspur and secured a place in the Champions League qualifying rounds.
However, the team still fired interim manager Di Matteo this summer. Abramovich believed that it was beneath a team like Chelsea to have someone who came from an assistant coach position to be the head coach. He also doubted whether Di Matteo could really lead Chelsea to glory. Di Matteo lacked experience and fame. Being able to lead Chelsea to a Champions League qualifying spot was already his peak.
So Abramovich did not hesitate to fire Di Matteo. After a search, Abramovich finally chose Dick Advocaat, the coach of the Russian national team.
This famous Dutch coach had coached many teams and led many teams to many championship honors. The most recent of these was leading Zenit Saint Petersburg to win the UEFA Cup and win the Russian Premier League for two consecutive seasons.
Advocaat was the coach of the Russian national team before coaching Chelsea. Many media believed that Abramovich's final announcement that it was not the hot favorite Advocaat may have something to do with this.
New coach Advocaat led Chelsea in three games in the new season – two league games and one Champions League qualifier. They achieved two wins and one draw, which was not bad. At least they didn't lose.
The media didn't have to rack their brains to think about what kind of gimmick to use for this game. The gimmick was ready-made – Chen Hero and his mentor's first meeting.
After leaving Zenit Saint Petersburg, Chen Hero had played against Zenit twice in the Champions League group stage, but Advocaat was no longer coaching Zenit at that time, so Chen Hero had not played against Advocaat.
This was a memorable first time.
It was a good gimmick, and the media would definitely hype it up.
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Before the game, Chen Hero was the name mentioned the most by reporters to Advocaat.
Who told them that the two of them used to be mentor and disciple? And Chen Hero really did gradually grow up under Advocaat's guidance. If it weren't for Advocaat, who would have given such a young man with a bad temper who dared to argue with the coach an opportunity? It's hard to say. When Chen Hero was playing for Zenit Saint Petersburg, he was still immature and had many faults and bad habits, and the "defects" in his personality also began to show. Fortunately, Advocaat gave him full trust and tolerance, otherwise, even if Chen Hero had talent, he might not have been able to make it. You know, it's really rare to see someone who dares to go directly to the coach and say that going to nightclubs at night is normal entertainment and that everyone has the freedom to do so, and that neither the coach nor the media can interfere…
If Advocaat had been a very strict coach, Chen Hero would have had to sit on the bench or hang out in the reserves during his time coaching Zenit Saint Petersburg. Who knows when he would have had a chance to make a name for himself.
Chen Hero was also very grateful to this mentor.
So before the game, very rarely, a game involving Chen Hero did not erupt into a war of words.
When Advocaat mentioned Chen Hero, he had a look of affection on his face, and he was also proud that he had cultivated such an excellent player. In fact, his coaching record has not been very good in recent years, but he can still enjoy a high reputation in the world of football, which is related to the fact that Chen Hero was brought out by him.
Chen Hero, such a great figure, was taught by him, which in itself shows his ability, and maybe he can teach another Chen Hero-like figure in the future?
In this regard, Advocaat seemed to be more self-aware: "There will be no more people like Hero, at least I don't think there will be a second player like him in the next ten years... I'm not talking about ability, I'm talking about the whole – a player who combines personal ability, personality and fate, is too difficult to appear."
He talked about this topic when he was interviewed by the media before the game.
He also expressed his happiness and blessings for Chen Hero's achievements in the past few years.
"He deserves it. From his time at Zenit, I knew he would become a great player. Now the facts prove it all. I am proud of his achievements."
So, will leading the team against such a powerful figure give him a headache?
Advocaat gave an affirmative answer.
"No one wants to meet a player like Hero in a game. He is definitely our nightmare."
Advocaat's evaluation of his disciple was very high, but it was inevitable that it would cause dissatisfaction among others. Especially the Chelsea players.
He said that he didn't want to meet Chen Hero, and that Chen Hero was their nightmare, which meant that he didn't take Chelsea's defenders seriously.
Although Chen Hero had scored in both of his two games against Chelsea last season, scoring a total of three goals in the two games, his performance was very good. But this was not a reason for the Chelsea coach to express fear.
John Terry snorted coldly after seeing what his coach had said.
He was the team's captain and Chelsea's main center back. Advocaat thought that facing Chen Hero was a nightmare, wouldn't that mean that Chelsea's defense couldn't stop Chen Hero at all?
So, as the representative figure of Chelsea's defense, where did Advocaat place himself, the captain?
There has always been a saying that John Terry and Lampard's local gang were the behind-the-scenes masterminds who made Boas leave last season. They manipulated the team's locker room, then hollowed out Boas, and didn't work hard on the field, taking down Boas. Because Boas's ideas were something they didn't understand, and Boas threatened their status, so they wanted Boas to get out. The young Portuguese coach came to Chelsea full of ambition, but eventually left because of poor results.
After he left, Chelsea's results immediately improved.
Of course, this is one saying, and there are many other sayings. This is just one of them. The parties involved don't say anything, and no one knows what the real inside story is.
However, after Di Matteo took over the team, Terry did stand on the sidelines to direct the game. It's no wonder that such a statement has appeared.
We will not discuss whether Terry and Lampard can and are willing to undermine a coach, but as the team's captain and spiritual leader, Terry does have a lot of energy within the club.
Advocaat didn't take Terry seriously, and Terry was going to prove to this new coach that he had the ability.
How to prove it?
Of course, it was to successfully defend Chen Hero in the game and prevent him from scoring a single goal.