Episode [423]: Entering the First Game of 2010

Now that the 20th round of the Premier League has ended, the new rankings of the Premier League have come out.

Nowadays, the Premier League rankings have changed a lot. Chelsea is still at the top of the list. They have one game less and their points are 44 points.

But their lead is not much anymore. Leyton Orient and Arsenal are now both on 44 points. They have caught up with Chelsea, but they are ranked second because of lower goal difference and how many games. the third.

In the last round of the game, Chelsea was tied by their opponents, so they gave everyone a chance.

Arsenal and Leyton Orient naturally seized the opportunity and caught up with Chelsea.

Chelsea's previous huge lead was eroded bit by bit. It can be seen that Chelsea is now tired.

Ranked fourth is the Red Devils Manchester United. They currently have 43 points, only one point behind the top three teams, and are very close to the top of the league.

The fifth-ranked team is Sheffield Wednesday. Their points are the same as Manchester United, with 43 points. They had a chance to surpass Chelsea. Unfortunately, in the nineteenth round of the league, they They were also tied and missed two points.

If Sheffield Wednesday had won that game, they would now be top of the Premier League.

The sixth-ranked team is Leeds United, which has two games to play. Leeds United's current points are 40 points, only four points behind the top-ranked Chelsea team.

But Leeds United has two games in hand, and one of the games is a head-to-head matchup with Chelsea. In other words, if Leeds United seizes the opportunity, they hope to directly surpass all the teams in front and reach the top of the Premier League.

Yes, the opportunity is right in front of Leeds United.

At this time, Leeds United cannot make any mistakes!

After entering January, Leeds United will complete these two rounds of make-up games, so Leeds United will be very busy in January.

Let’s talk about the current ranking of the Premier League. The seventh-ranked team is Manchester City. Their points are 35 points, five points behind Leeds United. They are considered the second tier. This tier wants to fight for a place next season. Qualifying for the European competition is relatively difficult.

Manchester City has spent a lot of money this season and introduced countless stars, but their results are actually not very satisfactory. The current position of Manchester City head coach Mark Hughes is very unstable and in danger.

Aston Villa, who is ranked eighth, has the same points as Manchester City, 35 points, but due to goal difference, it is now ranked eighth. Ranked ninth is Tottenham Hotspur, with 34 points. The tenth ranked team is the Red Army Liverpool, whose current points are 33 points.

Benitez is now in a very difficult and embarrassing situation.

Liverpool fans can't stand Benitez for a long time. Benitez's results this season are really bad. He has introduced so many people, but what is the result?

Liverpool fans are now crazily criticizing Benitez and hope that the top management of the Liverpool team will change the coach as soon as possible.

The top management of the Liverpool team is also quite disappointed with Benitez. However, due to Benitez's previous results and the friendly cooperative relationship between the two parties, the top management of Liverpool have not yet made up their minds to change coaches, but they are surprised and are looking for a new coach.

To be honest, they have been looking for it for a long time.

So far, they have found some more suitable new coaches, but they have not yet made up their mind to change coaches. They are ready to give Benitez more opportunities.

Yes, Liverpool's top management hopes that Benitez can lead the team until the end of this season.

Liverpool's top management has also lowered its performance requirements for Benitez a lot.

At the beginning of the season, Liverpool's top management hoped that Liverpool could advance in both the league and the Champions League, and at least win one championship.

However, it now seems obvious that it is not showing at all. Liverpool were eliminated from the Champions League early, failing to qualify even in the group stage. The results in the league even reached tenth place, which is really the worst in recent years.

Liverpool's senior management also took these factors into consideration. The final goal they gave Benitez was to reach the top four in the league and strive to qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season.

If you can achieve this goal, he will still be the head coach of Liverpool in the new season.

After all, Liverpool's performance this season is so poor not only because of Benitez, but also because of their club's appalling injury situation.

Liverpool players have suffered too many injuries this season, and now Steven Gerrard is still on the injury list. This is also the reason for Fernando Torres and others, which affects the results of the Liverpool team.

However, no matter what, Benitez's performance in leading the team this season is very poor. This is a fact. Benitez must take the blame!

The atmosphere at Liverpool's home court is already very bad. In almost every game at Anfield, there are voices criticizing Benitez. Even from the die-hard KOP stands, there are voices criticizing Benitez. the sound of.

Now Benitez is really going to be abandoned by Liverpool fans.

Steven Gerrard once said enough: "The team's current results are not only the responsibility of Mr. Benitez, but the responsibility of all Liverpool people. There have been too many injuries in our club, which has led to the failure of Mr. Benitez." There is no one available, so the results this season are a bit poor. But this is definitely not because Mr. Benitez and De Jong are not good at coaching. I hope the fans can give us and Mr. Benitez more time!"

Yes, Liverpool's star captain Gerrard is supporting Benitez.

At the same time, Fernando Torres, Reina, Carragher and Scott all supported Benitez, hoping that Benitez could stay and let Liverpool fans give him more time.

However, Benitez's life is still difficult.

There were still a lot of fans calling for Benitez to be dismissed. Many Liverpool fans even rushed to Benitez's home to call for Benitez to be dismissed. Some even hit Benitez directly. Glass from Nites' house.

When encountering these things, Benitez should be in a very bad mood now. He himself has also started to think about it, right?

Just after the last round of the game, Benitez said this in front of media reporters: "After the end of this season, I will definitely leave Liverpool. Yes, this time I am not telling a lie. , I really want to leave!"

Because before, many people have exposed that Benitez has been fired by Liverpool, and the legendary coach Hodgson is about to take over as the coach of the Liverpool team.

This matter was aroused, and many people even saw Hodgson appearing in the Liverpool Club building, seemingly reaching an agreement with the Liverpool team. There are a lot of rumors circulating in the outside world, saying that Liverpool will soon have a new coach.

There was a lot of noise at that time. Everyone thought that Liverpool was going to change their coach. However, Benitez was still the coach of Liverpool. It can be seen that the top management of Liverpool still believed in Benitez.

Seeing this situation, Zhong Cheng really didn't know what to say?

To be honest, Benitez is indeed very strong and he is a master tactician. His current situation makes Zhong Cheng feel sad. This is a head coach. If the results are not good, no matter what the reason is, the head coach must take the blame.

Many people say that Benitez's tactical ideas are good, but the innovation is too slow. Now his tactics have fallen behind the pace of the times. Football is advancing with the times. If Benitez fails to do this, he will naturally be slowly eliminated.

However, Zhong Cheng doesn't think so. Benitez still has his strengths and advantages.

The current situation is mainly due to the fact that the team's main structure has been affected by injuries, and Liverpool's bench depth is considered weak among the top players in the Premier League, and is not even as good as teams like Manchester City. Once they encounter widespread injuries, the team's performance will definitely be poor, and other coaches cannot change this.

Therefore, Zhong Cheng believes that this should not be Benitez's responsibility.

However, the reality is not like this. The man who takes the blame must be Benitez!

Zhong Cheng is naturally very sympathetic to Benitez's experience, but this is the reality. The most Zhong Cheng can do is give Benitez a blessing, and now Zhong Cheng doesn't care about these things. All Zhong Cheng cares about is Leeds United.

After the twentieth round of the Premier League, time has crossed over to 2009 and entered January 2010 directly. In mid-2010, Leeds United's first game was the FA Cup.

At this time, the English FA Cup has entered the third round, and all Premier League teams have joined it, entering a critical moment.

And Liverpool's luck is very bad. In the third round of the English FA Cup, Leeds United's opponent turned out to be the Red Devils Manchester United!

Yes, this is the road between enemies!

As soon as they came up, Leeds United encountered a very fierce opponent. This strong duel naturally attracted the attention of many people. Everyone wanted to see who of the two teams could win.

There is no need to go into details about the grievances between these two teams. As long as they meet together, it will naturally cause sparks to collide with the earth. What's more important is that the English FA Cup is a knockout match that determines the outcome, so fans from both sides are very, very concerned about this.

This was a brutal battle.

Manchester United fans said before the game: "Our Manchester United team must win this game. What strength is Leeds United? They can only carry our shoes for Manchester United. We are very, very proud of Manchester United." Have confidence, just watch, the victory will definitely belong to our Manchester United team, for sure!"

Yes, the people of Manchester United are very, very confident. They left messages on the Internet, claiming that Leeds United is not a concern and that the winner must be their Red Devils Manchester United team.

Look, in the current Premier League rankings, the Red Devils Manchester United are ranked third, only one point behind Chelsea, who is ranked first. And what about Leeds United’s points? Leeds United are three points behind them all, and they will definitely lose to the Red Devils Manchester United.

At this time, Manchester United really showed great confidence.

However, to be honest, the outside media is not very optimistic about Manchester United. Leeds United's performance this season has exceeded their expectations. Their performance in the league is very stable and steady. If it were not for two games less, it is impossible to say that Leeds United is now the team at the top of the league. .

Therefore, the outside media are still more optimistic about Leeds United. They believe that Leeds United is very likely to win this game.