Chapter 427 The only thing that can delay Chelsea is time

Author: Ant who loves watching football

Chapter 427 The only thing that can delay Chelsea is time

Around the winter break this season, Chelsea's schedule can be said to be the most intensive since Pan Yi entered professional football.

When I was fighting on the third front in Milan, the most I could do was play a few more games in the Italian Cup.

When it comes to Hamburg, the Bundesliga itself has fewer teams than the Serie A and Premier League, so even if the German Cup is included, the total number of games is the least.

When Pan Yi came to the Premier League last season, he abandoned the League Cup and FA Cup early to focus on the Champions League and the league, so it was okay.

But this season, Chelsea is really fighting on the N line!

The league has been going on, the Champions League has reached the top 16, the League Cup has reached the semi-finals, and the third round of the FA Cup, which is the round where Premier League teams start to join, is about to begin!

Coupled with the two Club World Cup games interspersed in between, this already busy schedule has become even more crowded.

If Pan Yi hadn't set the goal of winning seven crowns at the beginning of the season and made sufficient preparations for it, he might have collapsed somewhere.

But even so, Pan Yi and the coaching staff did not dare to take it lightly.

Especially after a difficult comeback victory over Crystal Palace, successfully tying the 58-game unbeaten record, it was immediately time to face Liverpool in the League Cup semi-finals and visit Anfield Stadium.

This is definitely not an easy game!

Therefore, before the team set off for Liverpool, Pan Yi specially held a team meeting to cheer everyone up.

Of course, there was also a particularly practical piece of encouragement at the meeting.

That is, team owner Abramovich also made a special trip to London to attend.

He announced a resolution, which is a richer reward than last season!

This reward covers the bonuses for winning the League Cup, FA Cup, League and Champions League, and of course the Club World Cup - but this bonus has already been sent out.

Chelsea's prize money for winning the Club World Cup was about more than four million euros. On this basis, Abramovich added several million more to make up for ten million, which was distributed directly to each team member!

This is to inspire everyone to keep up their efforts and strive to achieve good results on all fronts.

All players naturally respond well to such a practical incentive mechanism.

Pan Yi also encouraged everyone to grit their teeth and get through this most difficult period.

"Keep on holding on, it will be over soon."

"In the past period of time, our state has had some ups and downs, and I believe it was also affected by such an intensive schedule, but we have survived and defeated one opponent after another."

"So, I also believe that you can continue like this."

"Next, what you need to do is to muster up the courage, make up your mind, take steps, overcome one difficulty after another, and finally reach the other side of victory!"

——

Sure enough, in the first leg of the League Cup semi-finals at Anfield, Chelsea encountered a stubborn resistance from Liverpool.

Since Klopp took over, Liverpool's appearance has changed a lot, and they have steadily risen in the league standings.

However, due to the debt owed in the first half of the season, even if Klopp leads the team to catch up, it can only hover between 5th and 8th. It seems that it will be difficult to get a Champions League seat next season.

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It is precisely because of this that Klopp wants to seek some breakthroughs in other arenas, which can be regarded as a welcome gift to Liverpool fans.

For example, the FA Cup and the League Cup.

This is very wise.

It can be said that Klopp has found his own differentiated track, achieved value transformation through simple reuse of potential energy accumulation, found the vertical areas he is good at through unique starting points, and achieved industry co-construction and carrier integration.

, through the focused approach of combining points and lines, the refined tipping point of the Red Ocean industry was found.

To put it simply, Klopp's focus on cup competitions has paid off, and they have successfully reached the semi-finals of the League Cup.

Therefore, when facing Chelsea, they seem to be more motivated than their opponents.

Although the two winger positions in Liverpool's current lineup have always been a pain point for Klopp, under his training, this Liverpool team has still shown their good combat effectiveness.

At Anfield, although Chelsea still successfully took the initiative, they took advantage of a corner kick opportunity in the 35th minute of the first half, and Van Dijk took the lead in scoring.

But not long after, Liverpool equalized the score through Milner.

The former Manchester City jackpot player hit a long-range world wave outside the penalty area, blasting through the door guarded by Martin.

Courtois has been the goalkeeper in most of Chelsea's games this season, while Martin has played in cup competitions such as the League Cup and FA Cup.

But Milner's shot was so exciting that Martin was powerless.

After changing sides in the second half, Lukaku received a cross from the left and easily scored with a push, taking the lead again.

But just seven minutes later, Firmino equalized the score again for Liverpool.

The score came to 2:2.

Although there have been many goals scored in this game so far, the game is actually not smooth.

This is partly because of Liverpool's tactics. Klopp adopted a more aggressive encirclement and suppression style, which made Chelsea's midfield passing and receiving look a bit fragmented;

But what's more important is Chelsea's ups and downs.

After continuous hard battles like this, no matter how strong Chelsea's lineup is, they will eventually get tired.

Especially during the winter break, especially since it was only two days since the last game against Crystal Palace...

If it had been any other team, it would have collapsed long ago.

But Chelsea are still gritting their teeth and persisting.

And when the TV broadcast cut to the sidelines, Pan Yi could be seen standing on the sidelines, and his expression didn't look very satisfied with the score.

On the scene, Chelsea has the advantage.

But the score is now evenly divided. In addition to Liverpool's fierce defense today and goalkeeper Mignolet's good performance, it is actually mainly because Chelsea's offensive players are not in ideal condition.

Tonight, Chelsea made too many mistakes on the pitch.

Just like the attack in the 86th minute, Goretzka passed the ball to Hazard's feet, and the Belgian sent a direct pass.

The ball was intended to be passed behind the opponent's central defender Lovren, but Lukaku stood still and did not run because he thought his fellow countryman would pass the ball to him.

As a result, the ball was passed directly to a place where no one could respond, and it went out of the baseline under the escort of Lovren, wasting an offensive opportunity.

This is not an accidental phenomenon, situations like this are common in this game.

In the final analysis, it is because of long-term battles that problems have arisen in the players' condition.

Although Pan Yi has rotated frequently, sometimes in games played every two days or every three days, even if you rotate, there will still be someone who plays more.

Even if we play one game and take another break, isn't this still two games in five days?

Players' physical fitness and mental concentration will all decline to varying degrees.

Especially mentally, it is difficult for a player to maintain the highest concentration all the time. When there are too many games, sometimes he will become a little numb and lose his energy.

This is why coaches often give speeches to motivate their players before and after games. During games, the captain also shouts from time to time to remind everyone to focus, and players often remind each other.

Now, Pan Yi is standing on the sidelines, encouraging the players to continue applying pressure and not to give up.

Because he wants to win, even if he faces Liverpool away from home, he still wants to win!

If we can return home with a lead at Anfield, the pressure in the second leg will be much less.

However, now he has used up all three substitutions.

Especially in the 80th minute, he sent Mbappe up, just to let the French teenager take advantage of the opponent's fierce fighting and reduced physical fitness to impact the opponent's defense.

But Mbappe, who is already quite famous, has obviously been cared for by Klopp. After he came on the field, he was closely marked by the equally fast full-back Moreno and never had a chance to perform.

It can be said that at this point in the game, Pan Yi has used all the tricks he can use. If the players are not in good condition and cannot perform effectively, there is nothing they can do.

And there is very little time left for Chelsea.

It has now entered injury time, only three minutes.

"Keep attacking, keep pressing forward!" Pan Yi shouted loudly.

He is showing his determination to all Chelsea players, that is, he will not accept a draw!

He wants to win!

In addition to Pan Yi himself really wanting to win, this is also a psychological hint to the players on the court.

You must know that since ancient times, "a draw means qualifying" often fails to qualify. In many cases, it is because expectations are too low, which limits the performance of players on the field.

If you just want a draw, then of course the players will have a sense of "comfort with the status quo" on the court, which will lead to a lack of hunger. Sometimes it will lead to mental relaxation, and finally lead to conceding goals and losing.

But if the attitude you convey to the players is "must win", then the players will be very energetic to deal with the opponents, and the probability of being stolen will be greatly reduced.

Therefore, after Pan Yi kept shouting from the sidelines, the Chelsea players on the field also became excited.

The game entered the last minute of injury time.

Liverpool once got the ball near the midfield. Coutinho tried to pass the ball into the frontcourt to find Firmino, but Chelsea's central defender Ake grabbed the first place and tipped the ball.
To be continued...