Chapter 616 Goal Shortage

Enter the Christmas Devils schedule.

In the 19th round of the Premier League, Liverpool played against Derby County.

This was originally the weakest team in the Premier League this season, but Liverpool played very dangerously.

In the 12 minutes of the first half, Yang Yang created a threat from the left, and Crouch finally scored a goal, but then Liverpool made a free-kick defense and was equalized by the opponent.

Until the final stoppage time of the game, Yang Yang forced a breakthrough from the left and passed into the penalty area. Crouch headed back and knocked back. Yang Yang followed and hit the goal directly, but was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper, and Gerrard missed the goal.

Two to one!

Liverpool beat Derby County!

...

Three days later, in the twentieth round of the Premier League, Liverpool played away to Manchester City.

After 90 minutes of fierce fighting, the two sides ended up in a 0-0 draw.

Yang Yang came off the bench in this game and made several threats, but failed to score.

This is his three consecutive rounds without a goal.

...

Enter 2008, January 1st.

In the twenty-first round of the Premier League, Liverpool host Wigan Athletic.

Liverpool were drawn 1-1 at home by Wigan Athletic.

Yang Yang started the game and played all over the field, but he failed to perform, and the overall state was relatively sluggish.

...

Following the average performance of the Devil's schedule last Christmas, Yang Yang's Christmas schedule this year was even worse.

After he just won the world footballer, his state is obviously declining rapidly.

He did not score in four consecutive games, and Yang Yang's performance began to be criticized by a lot of media, but the vast majority of the media and fans were still relatively friendly towards him, believing that he was in an excellent state after four months. After that, whether it is your physical condition or your mentality, it will take some time to adjust.

Dalglish even said in an interview with the media that Yang Yang's strength and professionalism have no problems, and he needs to readjust his physical condition and psychology now.

"I'm sure, given him enough time and patience, he'll get back to his form very quickly."

Many celebrities, including Alan Hansen, have also expressed their support for Yang Yang. Players such as Gerrard, Harvey Alonso, Crouch and Kuyt in the Liverpool team have also spoken out, saying that Yang Yang has no problems. , he just needs a little time.

Being criticized for not scoring in four or five games shows that after winning the World Player of the Year and the individual Grand Slam, both the media and fans have higher requirements for Yang Yang.

Now, they all use the standard of the number one player in world football to demand Yang Yang.

...

On January 4, the third round of the FA Cup.

Liverpool beat Luton 5-0 away.

Yang Yang was not included in the squad for this match.

...

In midweek, the Premier League Cup semi-final, Liverpool away to Chelsea.

After 90 minutes of hard fighting between the two sides, Liverpool drew Chelsea 2-2 away.

Yang Yang contributed an assist, but still failed to score.

...

In the twenty-second round of the Premier League, Liverpool played away to Middlesbrough.

Benitez arranged for Yang Yang to be a substitute for the purpose of protection.

Middlesbrough took the lead in scoring Liverpool's goal with an assist from Downing, and it was not until the 71st minute of the second half that Kuyt scored a goal to tie the score.

Yang Yang came off the bench for 30 minutes and still worked hard, but he still failed to score.

...

In the twenty-third round of the Premier League, Liverpool face Aston Villa.

In the first half, Gerrard passed the ball, Yang Yang got the ball from the front of the penalty area and then went straight, Kuyt scored a goal.

But then Liverpool performed poorly overall, especially on the offensive end.

With the decline of Yang Yang's state, Liverpool's offensive threat has also dropped significantly.

After changing sides and fighting again in the second half, Aston Villa scored two goals in three minutes. Finally, with Crouch's goal, Aston Villa finally drew 2-2 at home.

Yang Yang contributed an assist, but still failed to score.

Anfield fans were not happy with the draw as it was Liverpool's last three draws in a row, which has resulted in Liverpool's shrinking lead at the top of the table.

At present, after the 23 rounds of the game, Liverpool ranked first with 56 points, but Arsenal managed to catch up with 53 points, only three points away from Liverpool, Manchester United with 51 points points followed.

It can be said that the lead that Liverpool finally established in the first half is now in jeopardy.

On the scorer list, Yang Yang has not scored a goal for a month. In contrast, Manchester United's leading star Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a flood of goals in the past month, scoring a total of eight goals in six rounds of the league. ball and an assist.

This also allowed Ronaldinho to catch up with 17 goals in the scorer list, only five goals away from Yang Yang's 22 goals.

But even so, despite the impatience of the Liverpool fans, they still shouted Yang Yang's name after the game, cheered him on, and hoped that he could get back to his state as soon as possible.

After the peak, there is a trough. This is human nature, and everyone can do it.

At the start of this season, Ronaldinho still has a goal drought for more than a month.

But the problem now is that when Liverpool lost Yang Yang, the offense was also affected, which in turn led to a very low efficiency of the team's overall scoring. The best proof is that consecutive draws are the result.

At the same time, Yang Yang also began to repay the debt for the previous media support.

How did the British media support Yang Yang to grab the world footballer, and how do they hype his goal shortage now?

Everything was not unexpected by Yang Yang.

He is also very strange about his current situation.

He still trains every day as before, there is still no discount, and he never slacks off. In the game, he still works so hard and runs a lot.

But it just feels a little bit different.

This was something he had never done before.

It has been more than four years since his debut, and he has never encountered such a situation.

...

Midweek, the second leg of the League Cup semi-finals.

Benitez once again showed his qualities of being good at playing cup games. At Anfield, with Gerrard's goal, he defeated visiting Chelsea 1-0 and successfully advanced to the final.

Yang Yang continued to show nothing.

...

This weekend, in the fourth round of the FA Cup, Liverpool beat Hawat 5-2 at home.

Yang Yang did not make it into the squad for this match.

...

At the end of January, in the twenty-fourth round of the Premier League, Liverpool ushered in a defeat.

A 0-1 away loss to the Hammers to help West Ham United.

It was Liverpool's second defeat of the season and it also resulted in Arsenal's success in catching up with Liverpool in the standings.

But three days later, Liverpool quickly adjusted, beating visiting Sunderland 3-0 at home.

But since Arsenal also beat their opponents, the standings in the standings have not changed.

It's just that Yang Yang's goal drought continues.

…………

…………

In the manager's office at Liverpool's Melwood training ground, Benitez looked worriedly at his assistant.

Paco Yesterdam and Francisco DeMichele, who were in charge of physical training, Mark Waller, the team's head of doctor, Dave McDonough, the tactical analyst, and even the masseur Paul Small were called out Come for a meeting.

"What I want to know is, what is the situation with Yang Yang now?" Benitez asked worriedly.

During this period of time, Yang Yang did not score for more than a month, and everyone on the team was under great pressure.

Everyone knows that Yang Yang is the core fighting force of Liverpool. He sneezed and an earthquake occurred in Liverpool. Now Yang Yang is neither injured nor has any problems, but his performance is not ideal.

"According to what you said before, I followed and monitored him for a week. I can conclude that there is really no problem with his body. Maybe he was a little tired before, but he is almost recovering now." Mark, the team medical director Waller frowned.

When Yang Yang had a problem, the whole team was nervous, and everyone was under pressure.

He is Liverpool's baby bump now.

"There is no problem with our tactics. It is no different from the previous one. I have carefully watched the video of the last few rounds, and the opponent has no obvious targeted tactics." Tactical analyst Dave McDonough said.

After a pause, the tactical analyst added: "I also specially analyzed his data on the field, whether it is running distance or other, it is quite normal, that is, the number of dribbles and the threat of passing the ball, and There has been a significant decline in the data of timing and other aspects.”

"His training is all right," Paco Yesterdam said succinctly.

"In the gym, he still trains with the same equipment as usual every day, and everything is normal." DeMichele continued.

Paul Small saw that everyone was talking, and the office was a little quiet. He hesitated for a while and replied, "I also think he is quite normal, that is..."

Benitez frowned, "What is it?"

"It doesn't feel exciting enough," Paul Small said. "Especially lately, I think he's under more pressure than us."

Everyone nodded after hearing this.

Yang Yang has been with the team for a year and a half. The club has also conducted a detailed assessment of his character before. He is a very responsible player, self-disciplined and full of professionalism.

But it is precisely because of this that such people are often easy to carry a heavy burden on themselves.

Of course, this kind of character is a good thing for the players. Yang Yang's ability to reach today and achieve such achievements is inseparable from his character.

"I think so too," added Yesterdam. "After taking the World Player of the Year, I felt his whole body slackened. Originally he was tense, and this slack caused his state. The decline, followed by continuous poor performance, affected the team's performance, and he estimates that he is also under a lot of pressure."

Benitez understood what Jesterdam meant.

Sometimes, the more pressure a player is under, the harder he wants to perform, the more sluggish he is on the court.

Just like Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United, the more he wants to score, the more often he can't score.

But this guy seems to have gotten his head around recently.

"Paco, any good advice?" Benitez asked.

"Let him rest."

"have a good rest?"

"Well, give him a vacation, forget about football, don't think about anything, let go of the baggage."

Having said this, Yesterdam smiled and said, "Just in time, it will be their traditional Chinese Spring Festival in a few days, let him go home for the New Year."

Benitez thought for a while and nodded in agreement.