Volume 1: Heroes Come and Go, People Pay Attention Chapter 97 League Cup Semi-Finals (Fourth Update, Please Vote for Me)

Chapter 97: League Cup Semi-finals (Fourth update, please vote for me)

After easily defeating Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool's next opponent is Blackburn Rovers in the League Cup semi-finals.

Everyone in the Liverpool reserve team is training hard because they feel full of strength for the upcoming League Cup final.

For the stars of Liverpool's first team, the League Cup is tasteless, tasteless and a pity to abandon.

So they didn’t go to the game in the first place. Only Chen Yingxiong went because he wanted to score goals.

But for the players in the reserve team, this is a rare opportunity for them to compete - not to practice, but to compete. They don't need to exercise now, what they need is a game, a serious game. Although they also have reserve team games to play, can that kind of game compare with the League Cup and FA Cup? It would be good if the reserve league could have at most four to five hundred spectators, but would it be broadcast on TV? Don’t even think about it!

But in the League Cup, no matter how useless it is, it can still have more than 20,000 fans, can be broadcast on TV, and the media pays attention to the game, which is absolutely unmatched by the reserve league.

So everyone attaches great importance to this opportunity. They know that the league and the Champions League are a big deal and they are not qualified with their strength. Fortunately, England has two domestic cup competitions, so there is no need to worry about no games.

Whenever this happens, they feel particularly unhappy. Why do Premier League teams have to start from the third round when playing the League Cup and FA Cup, instead of directly starting from the first round? This way they can play two more games in each cup.

In fact, these reserve team players are not willing to play more games just because they like football. They also have to consider their own future. The more games they play and the more opportunities they have to show up, the more they can attract the attention of scouts and gain the favor of other teams, which may give them a good future.

It is a pity that such good opportunities belong to a very small number of people, so most of the time they are like concubines hidden in the cold palace, still looking forward to being selected by the emperor, pregnant with dragon seeds, and carp leaping overnight. Longmen was promoted to a noble concubine or even a queen.

Although I have bad luck and poor strength, the right to dream is free and available to everyone.

So everyone continues to look forward to it and takes every League Cup and FA Cup game seriously.

For this reason, they are particularly grateful and fond of Chen Yingxiong. Because the arrival of Chen Yingxiong gave them more competition opportunities. If it weren't for Chen Yingxiong, they might only play two or three games at most, and then the season would be over.

Yes, for the stars of the first team, the end of the season is marked by the last game of the league, or the Champions League final. For them, being eliminated from the FA Cup means that their season is over.

After Chen Yingxiong arrives, they can play several more games and have several more opportunities to appear in front of the media and scouts. For the sake of their own future, they naturally have to support Chen Yingxiong desperately. Of course they knew that Chen Yingxiong stole the show. Everyone was discussing his name, the real protagonist, but what about them? They are all supporting roles.

However, they all know very well that no matter how outstanding or leading a person like Chen Yingxiong is, it is impossible for him to be valued by scouts, because there are currently few teams that can buy him. Even if they want to buy him, they still can’t. It depends on whether Liverpool can sell it or not. So even if Chen Yingxiong is outstanding, scouts will not come to observe Chen Yingxiong.

How Chen Yingxiong performs will not affect others at all.

On the contrary, if others perform well, assist Chen Yingxiong with a goal in the game, or fully demonstrate their strength in the game, they will be favored by the scouts, and they may be able to successfully transfer. Players who can give themselves the main position.

It doesn't matter even if you are just a role player. As long as you complete your tasks, you will naturally fall into the eyes of caring people. Do you still worry that no one cares about you?

Therefore, Chen Yingxiong is like a catalyst. His presence can drive the performance of other players. Because of him, Liverpool kept winning, and while he received praise, others also received praise from the media. If you look at the teams that have won the game, in the post-game ratings, there are very few players with low scores.

Now another League Cup game is coming. Everyone is training hard and looking forward to defeating their opponents in the semi-finals with Chen Yingxiong and reaching the final.

I also hope that I can help Chen Yingxiong during the game, even if he only completes the defensive task, at least it can be seen as giving Chen Yingxiong no worries.

※※※

However, before the last day of training before the game, they did not wait for Chen Yingxiong and first team head coach Martin O'Neill at the second venue.

Clark, the head coach of the reserve team, read out a list of about nine people before the start of training.

After reading the list, Clark said: "Follow me to training ground No. 1."

The people being remembered looked at each other.

They couldn't figure out what was going on.

They know that the No. 1 training ground is where the first team trains, but they don't quite understand why they are asked to go to the first team's training ground. Tomorrow is the League Cup semi-final. Instead of staying here to train with the team, what are we doing on the first team's territory?

If they were allowed to go to Court No. 1 in normal times, they would be very happy, because it means that they can train with the first team, have the opportunity to play for the Liverpool first team, play in the league, and maybe even play in the Champions League if they are lucky.

But now, they would rather stay in Court No. 2 so that they can have a chance to play in the League Cup semi-finals tomorrow.

That's the semifinals!

There will be more people paying attention to the League Cup than usual, and more media and scouts will come. It will be a big scene!

It was Clark who clarified their doubts: "You will join the first team in the League Cup semi-finals tomorrow!"

As soon as these words came out, the players caused a commotion!

The selected players suddenly realized it, with expressions of pride and happiness on their faces.

Those whose names were not read were disappointed, envious, jealous, and so on.

In the end, the nine lucky ones were taken to the No. 1 field by Clark under the envious and jealous eyes of their teammates. The people who were left behind seemed to have little interest in training.

※※※

After Chen Yingxiong changed his jersey number, he did not go directly to the training ground. Instead, he left the training ground and was about to go to the second court. Then he was stopped by head coach Martin O'Neill.

"What are you doing, hero?"

"Training. Isn't it the semifinals tomorrow?" Chen Yingxiong felt that the boss's question was too retarded. There are usually League Cup games, but O'Neal always invites him to go there. Why now he is asking himself what to do.

"Oh, then you don't have to go, you can go back." O'Neill heard that it was because of this and nodded.

"What?" Chen Yingxiong was confused.

"In tomorrow's game, I will not send the entire second-tier team. It will be a mixture of the first-tier and second-tier teams, so I asked them to come to court No. 1 to train with us."

Chen Yingxiong was stunned for a moment, and then he understood.

We have reached the semi-finals, and one step further is the final. Even if the boss thought the League Cup was tasteless before, it is no longer tasteless this time.

No one will complain about the lack of championships. Since we are still two steps away from winning the championship, and it will not burden the first team, why can't we work hard and win a League Cup championship?

He also nodded, then turned back to the No. 1 training ground.

Now that the head coach has made a decision, he has nothing to say and just follows it. He didn't have any other ideas.

He guessed right, Martin O'Neill was indeed planning to compete for the League Cup championship.

Martin O'Neill didn't pay much attention to the League Cup before because the League Cup has to be played from the third round. It takes at least five games to reach the final. If there is a tie and a replay is required, then more will be added.

The risk is too great, the investment is too great, there may not be any returns, and the price/performance ratio is not high. Such a competition is naturally useless.

But if he puts the League Cup in front of him, he can add a championship in just one or two games, why not?

Therefore, Martin O'Neill made a decisive decision. Starting from the semi-finals, the first-team players will participate in the game.

If Liverpool can reach the final, even these nine second-tier players will be included, and the main lineup will be fully involved. By then, the Liverpool that appear at Wembley Stadium will be the same Liverpool that appear in the league and the Champions League.

At that time, Martin O'Neal only had the championship trophy in his eyes.

※※※

Nine second-team players came to Court 1 for the first-team training. This was not their first time, so there was nothing surprising about it. They are still excited about playing alongside first-team stars and playing in the League Cup semi-finals.

Chen Yingxiong came up to greet them. He felt a little strange: "Why are there only a few of you?"

"Coach Clark only read our names!" The person who answered Chen Yingxiong was very proud. He had a sense of pride that "I am one of the best".

Hearing his answer, Chen Yingxiong frowned slightly.

When he heard what the boss said before, he thought that the entire second team would come to the first field, just like before, they would play a game with the first team, and then the players in good condition would form a joint column to play in the League Cup. finals.

Unexpectedly, there were only nine people. These nine people only accounted for one-third of all the reserve team members, which means that two-thirds of the reserve team players were not qualified to participate in the next League Cup semi-finals.

But before that, in every League Cup game, there were only teammates from the second team and myself, a person from the first team. The talents of the second team are the main force, and I am actually here to help.

Every player from the second team has a share. As long as they perform outstandingly in training, they can be selected for the final 18-man roster. Exclude yourself and there are still seventeen people eligible for the Carabao Cup. That's twice as many as the nine people now.

Chen Yingxiong always felt that something was wrong, but he did not continue to delve into this issue because training was about to begin.

First team assistant coach Sammy Lee stood in the field and shouted to all the players to warm up first and then come to training.

The players of the second team joined the warm-up crowd enthusiastically.

Chen Yingxiong followed them as if he was a member of the second team.

※※※

Clark returned to the reserves and continued his training.

Then he soon discovered that the atmosphere of the reserve team was different from before. Many players were obviously not focused on training, and many seemed weak.

He was stunned for a moment, then figured out what was happening.

They lost their goal and naturally lost their fighting spirit.

Oops, seems to have overlooked what the League Cup means to these people. When we were thinking about the problem, we thought that the League Cup was a championship that Liverpool could compete for...

But there is no way. If we still only rely on these people, it is hard to say whether we can reach the finals, let alone win the championship in the finals.

For the benefit of the team as a whole, the personal interests of these people can only be sacrificed now.

He shouted: "Cheer up, everyone!"

Nothing effective.

He sighed.

Forget it, let them be. Anyway, the reserve team is a place with little hope...

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