There is a dream called football

Chapter 202 Cruel schedule
December 12th, December 26th, this is the Christmas Day schedule, which is extremely cruel. At the time of the year that should be the most rest, the Premier League players go to the game like cows and horses, in order to make the fans happy.

The No. 26 team is playing West Bromwich Albion, and the No. 28 is playing Southampton. These two games are not easy, especially the Southampton game.

The German once said that one of the important reasons why the England team performed poorly in the competition was that there was no winter break and the players' physical fitness was overdrawn.

This actually makes sense. Li Qiao's physical condition at this time is also average, and he feels tired. This may be caused by the biological clock. After all, he was on vacation in Portugal at this time last year, and his body was in a completely relaxed state.

What's worse is that it snowed heavily in the away game to West Bromwich Albion.

When the team arrived at West Bromwich Albion, under the jurisdiction of the West Midlands, it was snowing heavily, which was beautiful for those who were at home on holiday.

It's a pleasant thing to watch the heavy snow and eat delicious food in a warm house, but for the players, this is very troublesome.

In particular, the conditions of West Bromwich Albion's home stadium, the Hawthorns, are so-so.

"Ah, I'm freezing to death." Reese touched his arm.

"Haha, then you still wear short sleeves?"

"I am used to it."

Some players are like this, no matter what the weather is, they wear short sleeves, but Li Qiao has already put on long sleeves to keep warm.

During training, Benitez deliberately practiced free kicks and long-range shots, because in bad weather, long-range shots are a good way to score, and free kicks are to prevent opponents from attacking.

There is no underfloor heating at the Hawthorn Stadium, so the lawn was covered with a layer of hoarfrost during the game, and Liverpool players put on spikes.

Benitez specifically reminded: "Don't get hurt, take your time, this is the Christmas schedule, 1-0 is the best Christmas gift."

"understood."

West Bromwich Albion is a very famous master of relegation in the Premier League. They will be relegated occasionally, but they will come back soon.

In fact, with such a mature professional system in English football, each team has its own way of survival, such as Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester United. Their goal is to win the championship.

For West Bromwich Albion, their goal is to get enough points as soon as possible to complete relegation.

In the Christmas schedule, it is a very, very good opportunity for the weak teams, because the weak teams have nothing to lose, while the strong teams consider more.

In the heavy snow, West Bromwich Albion launched a fierce attack on Liverpool, and the foreseeable three tricks were long passes.

At this time, Benitez has fully adapted to this English football style of play. In fact, it is better to strengthen the control of the midfield.

That was left to Alonso and soon the West Bromman found it increasingly difficult to get the ball off the Liverpool midfielder.

Every time West Bromwich Albion wants to attack, they have to spend a lot of physical energy to grab the ball, and they may not be able to grab the ball when facing Alonso. This is a very headache.

"That Spaniard is really strong."

Benitez kept making gestures of pressing down with both hands, asking everyone to stabilize.

"Steady!!!"

What Benitez cares about most is the rhythm of the game, which must be slow. A fast attack in this weather is likely to strain.

Li Qiao also changed his style of play. Usually he is like a sports car, but now he is like a bicycle. He leans more in the middle and uses his long shots to threaten the opponent's goal.

With a bang, the Hawthorn Stadium made a loud noise, because Li Qiao's shot hit the post.

"Haha."

Benitez is very happy. Li Qiao has changed more and more. In fact, if a player only knows one style of play, it is easy to be guarded to death.

Even if you are the fastest in the world, can you pass the defense of three people?

Obviously it is impossible.

So the most important thing in football is the reading and changes of the game. This is what Benitez can see from Li Qiao.

In the 25th minute of the first half, Liverpool won a free kick in the frontcourt, which was handed over to Riise.

The field is very slippery, coupled with Riise's explosive shot, the picture may be very beautiful.

West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Holt is on the alert. He directs the wall to block the angle, "Don't jump."

In this kind of weather, if the ball hits from under the wall, it will be quite difficult, and this is what the goalkeeper is most worried about.

The referee blew the whistle, and Riise started to run up. It felt like he was about to slam the wall, which made the defensive players in the wall terrified, and no one wanted to be kicked by Riise.

With a bang, Riise slapped the ball hard, and the ball flew towards the goalkeeper's defense. Riise didn't play any tricks, but followed the goalkeeper's swipe.

Holt reached out to block, but the speed of the ball was too fast, there was an irregular movement, and it bounced to the feet of Baros.

The Czech was facing an empty goal. He just pushed it lightly and the ball scored.

Liverpool was celebrating, but the home fans were mournful. The ball actually had no technical content, it was just a burst shot, but it just scored like that, which is unbelievable.

"It's kind of silly, isn't it?"

The head coach of West Bromwich Albion said to the assistant beside him.

But he was even more surprised that the second goal came very quickly. This was a long shot from Gerrard in front of the penalty area, and the ground ball got into the far corner of the goal.

2:0.

The characteristic of West Bromwich Albion is that they played particularly tenaciously when it was 0-0, but not necessarily after that.

In other words, the biggest disadvantage of weak teams is that they have no resilience and are prone to collapse.

The head coach of West Bromwich Albion had already seen the collapse. Sure enough, Liverpool scored another goal soon. This time, Baros forced the opponent's defender to score the goal.

3:0.

Incredible.

For the home fans, this Christmas gift was a bit bitter, and Liverpool also stopped. Benitez immediately replaced the main players and put on some substitutes to prepare for the next game against Southampton.

The next game is the home game, which is the real Christmas gift. Although Liverpool have interacted with the fans once at the club on Christmas Eve, there is no doubt that the real gift of a professional team is always a victory on the pitch.

In the final match against the Hawthorns, Liverpool won 3-0. When the players returned to the hotel, they could finally enjoy the snow outside the window.

I have to say it is beautiful, but it is also really busy. There is a home game in two days, so Liverpool must take the bus to go home quickly.

Benitez took a photo and sent it to his family in Madrid, "It's snowing here, it's beautiful."

"I can't come back for the New Year, remember to say hello to my parents."

(End of this chapter)