blogombal Chapter 424
Chapter 424
[The UEFA Champions League Round of 16 is about to start, and the three Premier League teams are in a worrying state! ]
[Leeds United and Manchester United continue to be in a slump, and Arsenal returns to the top of the league! ]
[The Premier League is in turmoil again. Arsenal has surpassed Leeds United and Manchester United after two consecutive wins! Wenger said frankly that Arsenal hopes to achieve good results on three fronts at the same time! ]
[Chelsea and Liverpool shook hands and made peace, and it is still unknown who will win the battle for the top four! ]
The day after the end of the 26th round of the Premier League.
Leeds United, Manchester United and Chelsea, who did not win the game yesterday and are about to represent the Premier League in the Champions League, were besieged by various media.
The Sun even put together the photos of Li Shiguang, Ferguson and Grant standing on the sidelines yesterday, with their arms livid, and then compared them with Wenger who was laughing.
On the Internet, in addition to the Arsenal and Liverpool fans who were watching the show, the fans of these three clubs have also quarreled!
In the southeast of France.
Located in the Lyon training base in the Rhone-Alpes region of Lyon.
Lyon's head coach, French coach Gerard Houllier, was walking along the training ground often used by the first team in the training base with his assistant Nicks after lunch.
This is a must-do for Houllier every day after dinner. There is no way. Since he was troubled by heart disease when he was in charge of Liverpool, this disease has been bothering him. Walking after dinner is a strict requirement of his attending physician!
And interestingly, when Houllier had his first heart attack, it was in 2001 when he led Liverpool to a Premier League match against Leeds United, the opponent of the Champions League round of 16.
Yesterday, Lyon defeated Sochaux 4:1 in the 24th round of the French Ligue 1, continuing to consolidate its position at the top of the standings, so Houllier, who was in a good mood, gave the players two days off.
But the old coach himself did not slack off.
Early this morning, he still called his assistant Nicks to the training base and studied the Leeds United game video for the whole morning.
Houllier knew it.
Since the end of the draw ceremony, no one in the whole European continent, except for Lyon fans and themselves, believed that Lyon could eliminate Leeds United in the Champions League round of 16!
After all, whether from the strength of the lineup or the team's state at the time, Leeds United was too strong!
But the 60-year-old coach didn't believe it.
Houllier, who had seen countless storms, firmly believed that football was round and there were strong and weak strengths, but no one could tell the final victory of the game before the referee blew the whistle!
"Girard, Leeds United is really not in good shape." While walking, Knicks was also checking his mobile phone, "I roughly browsed the news reports in England. It seemed that the three teams that were about to participate in the Champions League were going to be hung on Big Ben and scolded!"
Knicks' metaphor was a little funny.
Houllier smiled and shook his head gently: "Knicks, it's true that they lost the game, but we can't judge based on media reports. I have studied Lee's historical record after taking over Leeds United, and I have to say that he did a good job in one thing."
"What point?"
"With such a long span of a season, it is impossible for players to always be in a good state. Injuries, physical fitness, international competitions, and even family and external influences will cause players to fluctuate in their state, right?" Houllier asked back.
Knicks is not a novice either, and nodded, agreeing with Houllier's remarks.
"In fact, in my opinion, the most important thing for a coach to coach a team is not the technical and tactical reserves, nor the ability to command on the spot, nor the ability to discover new people, but the ability to help players reverse their bad state in the shortest time! Lee did a good job in this regard!"
Seeing that Houllier was talking seriously.
Knicks was a little confused: "Girard, have you communicated with him in the Premier League before?"
"No, I only met his father." Houllier shook his head, "The second year after I terminated my contract with Liverpool, his father unfortunately passed away, and Lee took over the nearly bankrupt Leeds United."
"Then why do I feel like you know him very well."
Houlier rolled his eyes: "Because I am the head coach, you only need to give me the statistics of Leeds United's games in the past two months, and I, in order to study Lee's tactical habits, have looked at their games in the past two years! Every year, Leeds United is not in good shape, but in just two or three games, Lee can turn the team's sluggish state back."
"Well... I really didn't pay attention to this." Knicks smiled embarrassedly, "Then according to what you said, when we play, LeedsIt is very likely that United has already gotten out of the slump? If that is the case, Houllier, to be honest, this series will be difficult for us to play. "
"I don't know... Of course it is possible." Even though he knew his team was at a disadvantage, the old coach had already developed the ability to keep a calm mind under the torture of illness, "But you don't have to worry, the preparations we started so long in advance were not in vain. At least when they came to the Olympic Park Stadium in the first round, I was still confident! ”
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For a whole week.
Countless media blocked the entrance of the Thorp Arch training base, wanting to get a chance to interview Li Shiguang in person.
Everyone knows.
Mourinho and Li Shiguang are the two biggest trolls in the Premier League.
Now Mourinho has gone to the Apennines, and what Li Shiguang will say in the face of the crazy public opinion is undoubtedly the most concerned by the media reporters.
However, Li Shiguang did not give these boring media the opportunity to interview him.
He has not shown up at the gate of Thorp Arch this week.
Simeone was a little indignant and wanted to rush out to spray a few words, but was stopped by Li Shiguang.
According to Li Shiguang, football matters must be resolved on the court. Anyway, it is not the diehard fans who scold the team online.
When the game is won, those boring people will naturally shut up.
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And at the weekend, Leeds United ushered in the fifth place of the FA Cup The opponent in the round was Huddersfield Town, a team in English Football League One.
Considering that they would travel to Lyon to play the first round of the Champions League round of 16 in three days.
Li Shiguang still arranged a substitute lineup for this game.
But even with the substitute lineup, Leeds United did not give Huddersfield Town any chance.
These players who had experienced Li Shiguang's rage in the away team's locker room at the Stadium of Light last week, devoted themselves to the game from the first second they stepped onto the court, and did not dare to slack off at all.
In the end.
Leeds United also won Huddersfield Town 5:0 at home and successfully advanced to the next round of the FA Cup.
A victory made public opinion a little better, but only a little. After all, the opponent was a team from a lower-level league. Such a victory could not stop the mouths of those who were busy with trouble!
In this disturbing public opinion environment.
The first round of the 2007-2008 UEFA Champions League round of 16 finally arrived...