Four Hundred and Eighty Chapters on the Eve of the Devil's Schedule
Stepping into December, Liverpool also felt the arrival of winter. The players wore warm hats during training, long sleeves and gloves during games, but the cold weather did not cool down Liverpool's fiery state.
In the 15th round of the league, the Red Army played at home against Southampton. The latter has been able to cultivate good rookies all year round. In the past ten years, from Gareth Bale, to Walcott, Chamberlain, and now Lallana, Luke Shaw, Chambers, Southampton's hematopoietic ability can be regarded as outstanding among the middle and lower reaches of the Premier League.
However, such a team often fails to keep good seedlings. The players who left the team before were poached by other Premier League teams with a lot of money just after they emerged. It really doesn't matter how brilliant they are in Southampton.
Fortunately, Southampton's pursuit is not high, and it is enough to survive in the Premier League.
Gareth Bell did not have the opportunity to face his old club in two consecutive games. He is not expected to return from injury until January next year. Situ Yunbing simply let him go home and spend Christmas with his family.
In this way, in the home game against Southampton, Situ Yunbing's starting lineup is really very young.
Goalkeeper: Ter Stegen.
Defenders: Flanagan, Skrtel, Benatia, Robertson.
Midfield: Eriksson, Gerrard, Casemiro.
Forwards: Mahrez, Suarez, Coutinho.
This starting lineup improved the control of the midfield, but reduced the speed impact of the striker. Situ Yunbing left Sterling as a backup.
The overall average age of Southampton's lineup is not too old, so the two teams fighting on the field looks more like a confrontation of young forces!
Mahrez, Coutinho, Gerrard, and Eriksson have greatly improved their control in the midfield. The effect brought about is that Liverpool's offensive scenes can often make full use of the width of the field, and the precise mid-to-short distance passes are fast and smooth.
Suarez alone can turn Southampton's defense upside down, coupled with the inward cuts of Coutinho and Mahrez, and the frequent advances of Eriksson and Gerrard.
Liverpool's offensive effect in the midfield showed a different kind of gorgeousness in this game!
Suarez scored a hat-trick with overhead kicks in the second half,
Excited, they danced and frequently made the celebratory gesture of shooting with both hands.
Eriksson also scored his first goal after returning from injury.
The task of Liverpool's defense today is not heavy, but Flanagan and Robertson's defense is still flawed. The impact of Premier League teams is housekeeping skills. In addition, Southampton has always liked to cultivate speed madness.
In the end, Liverpool won Southampton 4:2 at home. Even though he was not satisfied with the defense in his heart, Situ Yunbing remained silent about the two conceded goals after the game.
Can he vent his displeasure with two full-backs under the age of 20?
If an 18-year-old offensive player performs poorly, he will directly say it, because the poor performance of offensive players is often not a technical problem, but the poor performance of defensive players, even if the technology is good, there are still flaws due to lack of experience.
Clubs never hang on a tree when it comes to players.
A week of double matches led to Manchester City failing to win this round. They were tied by Everton at home, and Manchester United defeated Reading 4:3 away under the leadership of Ferguson. They overtook Manchester City and came to second place in the standings!
Not only did Chelsea fail to get out of the vicious circle, they even lost to West Ham United 1:3 away in this round!
In this way, Chelsea really withdrew from the title race, and Rogers dismissed get out of class directly!
Benitez's appointment as firefighting coach sparked protests from Blues fans!
Obviously, fans of the Blues and Chelsea are very disgusted with Benitez, who once served as Liverpool coach. Liverpool led by Benitez once blocked Chelsea from the Champions League final twice!
Liverpool, 40 points.
Manchester United, 33 points.
Manchester City, 32 points.
…
In the middle of the week, Situ Yunbing led his team to Italy to challenge Naples, the final round of the Europa League group stage.
Because they have already led the team to the knockout rounds, Liverpool sent a substitute lineup in the final match of the group stage.
Sterling and Vardy worked very hard in the game. Even though Udinese had the advantage in the whole game, Liverpool still caused a lot of trouble for Udinese through limited counterattack opportunities, but the recent defensive performance was a bit poor. Liverpool drew with Udinese 2:2 in the away game.
At the end of the group stage, Liverpool's record of 4 wins and 1 draw topped the list and advanced to the knockout round.
The meaning of the top spot in this group is different from the top spot in the Champions League group stage. The top spot in the Champions League group can avoid the top spots in other groups in the knockout draw.
But because the Europa League still has the third place eliminated in the UEFA Champions League group stage to join, a total of 32 teams draw lots to fight against each other!
Situ Yunbing believes that Liverpool's Europa League this season is not a burden, but a good training stage, which can allow him to take better personnel rotations in the Premier League, especially when the team suffers from injuries. Those players who have grown up through cup training can be trusted to play at any time.
Before Liverpool went to London to challenge the Hammers to help West Ham United at the weekend, Situ Yunbing was asked by reporters at the press conference how Benitez took over Chelsea. He bluntly said: "Thanks to Benitez for bringing Liverpool the Champions League. That's all. I wish him good luck at Chelsea."
He doesn't want to comment too much on the former coach, and he is also very sensitive. After all, in the past two decades, Liverpool's only glory is the Champions League brought by Benitez.
If he criticizes Benitez, some Liverpool fans are bound to be dissatisfied. Now Benitez is in a situation that is not pleasing to both sides. Although the Red Army fans have lost confidence in Benitez, they don’t want to see him coaching the Blues Chelsea.
Chelsea fans have no support for Benitez at all. Whether Benitez can continue to work at Chelsea seems to be an extremely difficult challenge.
Leading the team to East London to challenge West Ham United, Situ Yunbing is full of confidence in winning the game.
But less than 15 minutes into the game, Casemiro was sent off for a shovel foul while defending Joe Cole!
No matter how Situ Yunbing protested on the sidelines, the referee was indifferent.
Casemiro left the field with his head down, and Liverpool played one less player. Situ Yunbing could only remove Mahrez and Lucas to ensure the integrity of the defensive system.
Then the game became a bit difficult. The Hammers helped West Ham United have a good momentum recently. They won Chelsea 3:1 cleanly in the last game.
Although Liverpool relied on a wonderful triangle pass from Coutinho, Gerrard and Suarez in the counterattack, Suarez took the lead in scoring.
But in the second half of the game, he still failed to hold the lead. Carroll beat Skrtel in the penalty area with a header to kill the old master!
Seeing this, Situ Yunbing had to deploy troops to further strengthen the defense in the future. It is very difficult to score 3 points. The problem on the defense line is estimated to be completely resolved at the beginning of next year. At this stage, Enrique will be able to start the next game only after the return of Glenn Johnson.
In the end, Liverpool drew 1:1 with West Ham United on the road.
After the game, Situ Yunbing expressed strong dissatisfaction with the referee team.
"Casemiro committed a foul, but should he be sent off with a red card? I reserve my opinion. I only know that the game was ruined after the red card was drawn!"
For this reason, the FA fined Situ Yunbing £30,000 and warned him to be cautious!
The focus of this round is the rival derby in Manchester, 30 kilometers east of Liverpool!
Even though Ferguson's Manchester United has problems of one kind or another, it happens to be full of momentum!
The Red Devils defeated Blue Moon Manchester City 3:2 in the away game, further securing the second place in the league. At the same time, because Liverpool lost points in this round, Manchester United shortened the gap with the top spot!
Liverpool, 41 points.
Manchester United, 36 points.
Manchester City, 32 points.
Fleet Street is relatively optimistic, and at the same time, I am afraid that the world will not be chaotic and think that Liverpool has begun to show signs of venting!
Once they fail to withstand the test of the Christmas Devil's schedule, the advantages established by Liverpool at the beginning of the season will be wiped out by the Red Devils!
It is an indisputable fact that he has more experience in reversing Ferguson, but Situ Yunbing has no dark history of losing the chain!
There are still two games before the Premier League will enter the Christmas Devil schedule.
Before that, Situ Yunbing will lead the Red Army to the semi-finals of the League Cup first!
In the quarter-finals of the League Cup, Liverpool played against Middlesbrough at home.
In order to win this game, Situ Yunbing dispatched as many main players as possible in the lineup. Except for Gerrard and Suarez resting, the other main players all appeared on the stage.
Vardy's performance as an arrow is not very good. Before that, he played most of the time in defensive and counterattack tactics. He has enough space for him to play, but in the tough battle, his characteristics and abilities are difficult to play.
Fortunately, Liverpool did not simply rely on the center forward to score goals.
Eriksson and Sterling each contributed to helping Liverpool win the game 2:1 at home without any risk and advance to the semi-finals of the League Cup!