Chapter 696 From Arsenal!

Yang Yang went to Paris, France to receive the 2008 European Ballon d'Or, which once again attracted the attention and heated discussion of the media and fans around the world. When he returned to Liverpool the next day, he was greeted by Liverpool fans all over the city.

For the Red Army, this is another big happy event worth celebrating.

But the game continued in full swing.

Two days after Yang Yang took the Ballon d'Or, in the final game of the Champions League group stage, Liverpool played away to PSV Eindhoven.

Since the Red Army has qualified for the group ahead of schedule, the outcome of this game is irrelevant.

Liverpool played with an all-substitute squad and beat PSV Eindhoven 3-1 away.

Lucas Rewa performed very well in this game, with two assists to help Liverpool reverse PSV Eindhoven.

However, the 17th round came immediately after the team returned to the Premier League.

Liverpool's defence blundered in the first half as Hull City scored twice in a row.

The first time was when Abeloa on the right made a defensive mistake. The second time was when Reina failed to attack and Carragher made an own goal.

This situation is very similar to the previous game against Manchester City, and everyone is waiting for Liverpool to turn the situation around.

It only took Yang Yang two minutes, after receiving Kuyt's right cross from the left, forcibly broke through the opponent's two defenders, assisted the unguarded Gerrard with a low shot and scored a goal.

Eight minutes later, Kuyt made another cross from the right, Crouch headed the ball, Yang Yang kicked a wonderful volley with his back, and Gerrard rushed into the penalty area and pushed the goal without any defense. , to tie the score.

Two to two!

Afterwards, Liverpool launched a furious offensive, and Yang Yang also acted very proactively, but it rained and the venue was very slippery. Liverpool really lacked some luck, and finally drew away from Hull City 2-2.

...

Liverpool's away match against Hull City is not a special case of this round of the Premier League, and the other top three also performed poorly.

Arsenal drew 1-1 away to Middlesbrough.

Chelsea drew 1-1 at home to West Ham United.

Manchester United drew Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 away, Cristiano Ronaldo played the whole game, but did not perform.

The semi-finals drew at the same time. Although they did not lose, it was a strange phenomenon in the Premier League.

Sky Sports made an analysis after the game and believed that there were subjective and objective factors in the simultaneous draw between the semi-finals.

The so-called objective is that the competition in the Premier League this season is unprecedentedly tragic.

After the 17 rounds, the bottom of the ranking was the bloomers West Bromwich Albion, and the second-to-last was Blackburn, who ranked seventh last season. This was something no one thought of before the season. Will Blackburn fall deep into the relegation zone?

And what's even more frightening is that Violence has a five-point gap with Sunderland, the third-lowest.

Newly-promoted Mahul City are currently sixth and Stoke City are 13th.

Which team has the same 18 points as Sunderland?

It turned out to be the Manchester City that invested the most in the European transfer market this summer!

Everton, currently ranked seventh in the standings, has only 25 points, that is to say, the twelve teams from seventh to eighteenth are only seven points away. What kind of fierce competition is this?

And even teams like Sunderland have been doing very well this season, with some draws like Arsenal.

If the fierce competition in the league is an external cause, then the problems between clubs are an internal cause.

Manchester United relied heavily on Cristiano Ronaldo's goals last season, but the Portuguese is obviously not as brave as last season, and his current performance is sluggish, which has led to a sharp drop in Manchester United's goals. Although Ferguson's team got Bale Bartov is such a strong aid, but the Bulgarian center has obviously not been able to integrate into the Manchester United team.

Not to mention Arsenal, the overall strength has declined drastically, and the control has not been as good as before.

As for Chelsea, Drogba has been injured for too long, and the Blues' offensive power has been affected. The lack of effective means to break through the dense defense has caused the team to constantly lose points in strong dialogue and against teams with excellent defense.

"Judging from the performance of the previous seventeen rounds, the most champion is Liverpool!"

"Although Benitez's team drew in this round, they have played an impressive record of 15 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss in 17 games so far, and have scored 46 points, leading Chelsea, who is in second place, by a full margin. Nine points and eleven points ahead of third-placed Manchester United.

Sky Sports believes that Liverpool's strength mainly comes from the outbreak of Yang Yang.

"Benitez's team has always been known for its offensive and defensive balance, but after Yang Yang joined the team, the team's offense has been greatly improved. So far this season, in the seventeen rounds of the league, Yang Yang's offensive Nineteen goals, thirteen assists, 32 goals for the team alone."

"Too much reliance on Yang Yang will also become a problem for Liverpool, especially considering Yang Yang's performance has been sluggish every December in the past two years, and he has fallen into the quagmire of the winter break. Liverpool will also be greatly affected by then. This is an opportunity for Benitez to be vigilant and also for other teams."

However, for the concerns of Sky Sports and other media, Benitez said in an interview with the media that he was not worried at all.

"I believe that Yang Yang is ready."

Yang Yang himself also said in an interview with the media that he has the confidence to fight the battle of Christmas and winter break.

"It starts with Arsenal!" Yang Yang said confidently.

In the 18th round of the Premier League, Liverpool played against Arsenal.

Unexpectedly, before the game, Liverpool suddenly suffered the impact of injuries.

…………

…………

Mascherano has a cold!

However, the Argentine midfielder still came to Melwood, only wearing a mask and did not follow the team to participate in training.

But the team's coach, Benitez, missed a whole day of training.

Paco Yesterdam explained to the players in the morning that Benitez took a temporary leave of absence and was unable to lead the team for training.

Everyone feels normal about this, after all, who has nothing at home?

But in the afternoon, after the team's training, Yesterdam did not let the players disband, but announced to everyone with a solemn face that he was solely responsible for the team's training for the next few days, and the games would also be organized by him. He came to command.

"I regret to tell everyone that Rafael will temporarily leave us for a period of time, conservatively estimated to be half a month."

When everyone heard the news, they were very surprised, and there were many discussions.

"Paco, what's going on?" Captain Gerrard asked with concern.

Yesterdam signaled everyone not to discuss and not to worry.

"Raphael's body has been uncomfortable for a while, and he found that his kidneys are getting more and more painful."

Kidney pain?

Yang Yang smiled bitterly.

"So, this morning, his wife, Montsett, accompanied him to the hospital for a check-up. The diagnosis was a kidney stone, so he underwent lithotripsy surgery. He thought it was a small problem, but he didn't expect it to be worse when he got home. When I went back for a follow-up visit, I found that there was a hole in the kidney when the stone was crushed."

Everyone looked at each other in dismay. Isn't this too unlucky?

"The operation was successful, but it is estimated that he will have to rest for at least ten days, so he will not be able to lead the team and direct the game for the next period of time. I hope everyone can help each other and overcome this difficulty together."

After appeasing the players, Yesterdam disbanded the team, but at the same time kept Gerrard, Carragher, Yang Yang and Xavi Alonso. These four players are the mainstay of the team. .

Yesterdam's meaning is also very clear, Benitez has been unable to command the team's games, but the next is the most troublesome Christmas devil's schedule, especially the game against Arsenal, which is very difficult.

"Mascherano is injured, I'm considering letting Gareth Barry on, what do you think?" Yesterdam asked everyone's opinion.

Everyone nodded, this is normal operation.

Mascherano contributed a lot to Liverpool's midfield, especially in midfield defense and interception. Gareth Barry also performed quite well after joining the team. Although the defensive end is not as good as Mascherano's, he fills the gap for the Argentine. vacancies are still available.

"To play Arsenal on the road, the opponent must still focus on passing control, and I plan to focus on pressing and pressing, and at the same time do a good job of defense. After all, we are on the road, and we will shoot after seeing the situation." Yesterdam is cautious by nature. , I am still worried about playing Arsenal away.

The two teams know each other well, and there is no such thing as a so-called surprise soldier. It depends on who plays better on the spot and has more targeted tactics.

Benitez is a master of tactics. He can always guess the opponent's tactical intentions and give targeted restraint tactics, so before every game in the past, everyone is used to listening to Benitez's opinions, but Now, suddenly losing him, everyone is really a little blind.

Should it be robbery? Still stable?

It stands to reason that Arsenal's current overall strength is definitely not as good as Liverpool's. If the team really goes against the Gunners, both teams will come out to fight. Yang Yang is confident that he can blow up Arsenal's weak defense.

But the problem is that Liverpool's own defense is not strong, and Carragher's recent state is not particularly good. He even conceded two goals against Hull City before and even made an own goal, so the defense is also unstable.

Therefore, after reading it for a long time, both Yang Yang and Gerald felt that Yesterdam's remarks, although more cautious, were indeed more reasonable.

Yesterdam is an assistant coach and a good guy on weekdays. During the period when Benitez was away, managing the team naturally needed locker room bosses like Gerrard and Yang Yang to help talk and do something.

After Yang Yang won the European Golden Globe Award, he gave every teammate in the locker room the latest and best Apple iPhone in advance. Although it was not worth much, everyone took his benefits. , coupled with his prestige in the team on weekdays, someone still listens to his words.

But, without the head coach, can Arsenal be successful against Wenger?