It's cheating, but Hazard

Chapter 305 Red Legend (I)

Hodgson opened the door of the locker room with some concern.

Last season, Liverpool ranked only 7th in the league and missed out on the Champions League next season. In the Europa League, where they put all their efforts, they were eliminated by Atletico Madrid and ultimately ended up with nothing in the four major categories.

Now Liverpool has finally gotten rid of the shadow of relegation, but everyone knows that Liverpool will not score goals without Torres, and will lose its soul without Gerrard.

Although this has nothing to do with him because he was not the head coach of Liverpool last season.

Now Gerrard and Torres are both here, but doesn't that mean Liverpool can beat Chelsea?

The biggest signing he made after taking over Liverpool this season was Cole, but now Cole is not able to play yet. He just feels that Liverpool's prospects in this game are worrying.

……

"Station, stage, you are watching the 2010th round of the 11-11 Premier League, Liverpool vs. Chelsea at home."

“本场比赛是两家俱乐部的第159次正赛交锋，此前利物浦以69胜33平56负占据优势，不过在最近4次对战中切尔西则却3胜1平的不败战绩远远占据上风，并且近2次作客安菲尔德均力擒利物浦。”

"For Liverpool, Kyrgios was absent due to tonsillitis, so young player Kelly was able to start. Joe Cole and Glen Johnson were both absent due to injuries and could not play against their old club. Kuyt, who had been absent for a month, returned to the starting lineup;"

"For Chelsea, Essien is out due to a toe injury and Drogba is not in the starting lineup."

"Here are the starting lineups for both teams:"

“利物浦（4-4-2）：25-雷纳/3-孔切斯基、23-卡拉格、37-斯科特尔、34-凯利/17-马克西·罗德里格斯、21-卢卡斯、8-杰拉德、4-梅雷莱斯/9-托雷斯、18-库伊特。”

“切尔西（4-3-3）：1-切赫/2-伊万诺维奇、33-阿莱士、26-特里、3-阿什利·科尔/37-拉米雷斯、12-米克尔、18-日尔科夫/15-马卢达、39-阿内尔卡、7-夏尔。”

"After the new owner took over, Liverpool's situation has improved compared to last season. The Reds have now escaped the Premier League relegation zone, but they are still 13 points behind Chelsea."

"Liverpool have been in great form recently. In the Europa League match against Napoli at Anfield, although Napoli scored a goal at the beginning, Gerrard came off the bench to save the team and completed a hat trick in 13 minutes, winning 3:1."

"From this perspective, Liverpool itself has the gene of comeback. Before the referee blows the whistle to end the game, no one knows whether Liverpool will stage another amazing comeback for us."

With the referee's whistle, the game officially started.

After the kick-off, Liverpool immediately passed the ball back to the defense line for organization, with Conchesco and Carragher focusing their attention on Charles from time to time.

This is the hottest candidate for this year's Ballon d'Or. As the players who bear the main responsibility of defending Charles in today's game, it is difficult for them not to focus on Charles.

Carragher took a look at the situation in the frontcourt, quickly pushed the ball outwards with the outside of his foot, and passed it horizontally to Conchesco.

As soon as Conchesco got the ball, Charles rushed up.

It was clearly just an action, but for some reason Conchesco felt that Alexander and the ball under his feet were like a hot potato.

There is no way, this ball is too hot, so I'll just give it to you, Carragher!

The ball was quickly passed back by Conchesco. After receiving the pass, Carragher kicked the ball without any further hesitation.

Charles and Anelka quickly moved towards the middle, but the ball still went through the gap between them.

Lucas, who was behind the two men, received the ball and turned around quickly, passing the ball to Rodriguez on the side. However, as soon as Rodriguez received the ball, he found that there was no good passing space around him. Looking at Charles who was retreating, Rodriguez had no time to hesitate. He swallowed and passed the ball back to Lucas.

However, as expected, the accident happened. Before Lucas could hold the ball firmly, Charles rushed over to him and pushed him aside. His feet moved so quickly that before he could resist, the ball had successfully landed at Charles' feet.

Hodgson's heart skipped a beat and he could no longer sit still. He just stood on the sidelines and shouted.

"Pay attention to your position and cooperation!"

Lucas's blank mind immediately came to light and he quickly turned around. At the same time, Carragher, who was not far away, also came up to him.

Liverpool's red flag is still fluttering in the air, and these patches of red are like the solidified blood of a giant.

They were not on the court, but they also felt the suffocating and tense feeling.

They stared with wide eyes, closely watching Charles' every move.

He didn't make any unnecessary movements. The moment he grabbed the ball, he quickly flicked the ball with the instep. The ball drew a beautiful arc in the air, passed over Lucas' head and found Mikel.

The eyes of all Liverpool players followed the movement of the ball, and Charles, who was standing near the center line, also looked at Mikel.

African Zidane didn't know why, but a familiar picture suddenly appeared in his mind.

In a flash, after stopping the ball, Mikel did not choose to pass the ball back to the defense line to reorganize, but picked the ball up again.

No one on the field expected that Mikel would choose to pass the ball back, not even Charles.

Hodgson, who was still worried just now, frowned and sat back in his seat.

Just as he bent down to unscrew the bottle cap, the assistant coach beside him shook his arms wildly as if he had seen a ghost.

Hodgson sighed and put the cap back on the bottle, wiping the water off his clothes with his hands.

"What are you in such a hurry for..."

"Single sword!"

"boom--"

Hodgson's hand shook and the water bottle fell directly to the ground.

He quickly raised his head and saw the ball bounce after landing at the top of the penalty area. Anelka, Skrtel and Carragher, who were not far away, rushed towards the ball at the same time, but it was very obvious that Liverpool's defensive player Carragher was more than a body length behind Anelka. The person most likely to stop Anelka was Skrtel, who was parallel to Anelka five meters away.

Reina stood nervously on the edge of the small penalty area, lowering his center of gravity.

As Anelka got closer and closer to the ball, and the other Liverpool players were unable to arrive in time, Skrtel accelerated again, and fell to the ground and tackled Anelka just as he was about to receive the ball.

"Beep——"

Malouda had just rushed forward and was about to regain control of the ball when the referee's whistle sounded immediately.

Charles also rushed over and pulled Anelka up, "Are you okay?"

Anelka sat on the ground and rubbed his calf, then stood up and said, "I'm fine. If I was faster, they wouldn't be able to catch up with me in this ball."

"It's useless no matter how fast you are. To be honest, I didn't expect the ball to be passed to me at the beginning. Can you react in the first time?"

Malouda asked.

Anelka shook his head. "Who would have thought of this, Charles? I didn't see you practicing with Mikel in private. How did you two work together like this?" "I don't know. I just have a feeling."

Just as Charles finished speaking, he suddenly saw the system that had been silent for a long time appear again.

There was no sound, only a short text appeared in front of Charles' eyes.

"Classical Masters Progress +1. Your understanding of the Classical Masters has been further deepened."

Without giving Charles more time to think, Malouda quickly picked up the ball from the ground and said, "Okay, okay, stop talking and prepare for the free kick."

Charles also came to his senses, took the ball and tossed it in the air a few times. After adjusting his position, he carefully placed it in the free kick position.

Mikel stood behind and didn't follow, but he also opened his mouth wide.

Zhirkov scratched his head, somewhat puzzled. "What were you thinking? You and Charles worked so well together? Teach me."

Mikel was fascinated and murmured, "So this is the gap?"

"Mikel, Mikel?"

Zhirkov patted him on the shoulder, and he finally came to his senses.

"When I first became famous, I had a nickname called 'African Zidane'. Then I watched a lot of Zidane's games and highlights, learned and imitated him. At that time, I thought, I want to become the real Zidane."

"And you know, I still haven't become Zidane. There is no Zidane who plays as a defensive midfielder."

"When I saw Charles' position just now, I suddenly remembered the highlights of Zidane that I had seen before. I passed the ball like that on impulse. I didn't expect that he would actually do it."

Zhirkov also laughed, "Isn't this the best Mikel now?"

"you're right."

Mikel said with a smile.

"I didn't expect the pace of the game to be so fast right from the start. From stealing the ball to making an assist, no one expected that it would only take three touches."

"Charles passed the ball to Mikel, who didn't pass it back to the defender to reorganise, but instead lobbed it directly to Charle."

"Charles, with his back to the goal, did not make any unnecessary movements when the ball came. He did not turn around or stop the ball. He just passed the ball with the outside of his right foot."

"It was such a fantastic pass that I even began to believe in the existence of aliens. Otherwise, how could he accurately send the ball to Anelka without any vision of the players behind him, and it was with the outside of his foot."

"Incredible vision, unparalleled imagination, and peak passing skills."

"I remember there was a report before where someone asked Charles if he had a paralyzed foot, and Charles replied that he could walk upright with both feet."

"A long time ago, I just thought it was a little joke told by Ciel, but now, I just think it's funny."

"Laughing I was so naive that I didn't realize why Ciel said that."

"I was so stupid at the time that I didn't understand how big the gap was between me and the professional players, especially the top professional players like me."

"He just didn't want to hurt the confidence of the players who asked him this, but I really don't think there is much difference between him and me."

"Thanks to today's game, we saw these differences in one of the most common passes on a football field and understood the need to remain restrained and humble."

Looking at Charles who was about to take the free kick, Reina felt as if the entire Anfield flag was bleeding.

He didn't run much, but he felt dry mouth.

At the top of the penalty area, what is the difference between this position and a penalty kick for Charles?
As for the players blocking the front, he felt that it was similar to the Maginot Line.

what?
Is there a Frenchman opposite?

But he was born in Corsica!

After considering Charles' hit rate, Reina finally didn't dare to provoke Charles and stood obediently in the middle.

As for the arrangement of other players, Reina also chose the most conservative arrangement, letting all the players line up in a row without leaving any gaps in between.

Liverpool fans in the stands couldn't help but sweat in their hearts.

Although their voices were still loud and they wanted to distract Charles' attention in various ways, they knew very well in their hearts that Charles' free kick success rate was very high, and it was estimated that this time, their goal was doomed.

Hodgson grabbed the goalkeeping coach.

"You've been training really well on set pieces lately, right?"

"Probably so."

The goalkeeper coach said uncertainly.

"Not should, I want an accurate answer," Hodgson said anxiously.

Hearing this, the goalkeeper coach also became anxious, "But I have no choice. I can't turn into an owl and fly to Reina and tell him to jump to the left and leave the right to me, right?"

"If I had this magic, I would turn into an owl right now."

Hodgson sighed.

The goalkeeper coach was also confused, "Why did you turn into an owl? Let's block the goal together. I'll block the left side and you block the middle?"

"No, I will turn into an owl now and go to Hodworth for further studies!"

Hodgson said angrily.

As the referee blew the whistle, Hodgson and the goalkeeper coach stopped talking and turned their attention to Charles.

Reina took a deep breath, and saw Charles lowering his head to help run, exerting strength on his waist and abdomen, clenching his fists, and his arms were not stretched out but clamped together. When he came in front of the ball, he used the inner instep of his left foot to meet the ball.

The wall of people lined up in a row pushed each other at this moment, and the players on the side pulled each other and rushed towards the small penalty area.

Reina's eyes widened, and he saw that the ball hardly rotated in the air. It easily passed the useless human wall during its rapid climb and went straight into the blind corner of the goal.

Reina pushed off the ground with his feet and flew towards the upper left corner without hesitation, stretching out his right hand at the same time, but he was still a step too late. His glove didn't even touch the ball before it flew past his hand into the net.

(End of this chapter)