From Arsenal to the Ball God

This feeling became even stronger as he truly stepped into Anfield Stadium.

Due to the lighting on the field not reaching some of the fans in the upper stands, they appeared as a dense, dark mass, with only their eyes and heads moving, creating a strong sense of pressure.

Banners of all kinds had long been set up at the front of the stands; today they were anticipating a revenge match, and hoping the team could reach the English League Cup final and win the championship of this cup!

...

”Beep!”

The match officially kicked off at 7:30 PM. Today, Liverpool fielded a highly targeted lineup.

Goalkeeper Reina, followed by a defense line of Glen Johnson, Skrtel, Agger, and Martin Kelly. The midfield had a double pivot, with Spirin partnering Henderson standing behind.

In front of them were Gerrard and Charlie Adam, returning from injury..... On the forward line, winger Bellamy partnered with target man Andy Carroll.

Except for a very few, they had maximized the defensive attributes of nearly every position, making their intention for counter-attacking very clear.

Their desire for victory had reached its peak, but they chose to focus on defense, ensuring firstly with fierce interceptions and sweeps that the team wouldn’t concede a goal!

”Charge, charge!”

”Watch the cover!”

”I’m here.....!”

As the match began, the Arsenal players immediately sensed the opponent’s attitude and intensity, and a troublesome feeling instantly surged in their hearts.

”You’ll Never Walk Alone.....!”

Under the ceaseless singing throughout the stadium, every Liverpool player seemed to be invigorated, fighting with might and main on the field.

”Watch out!”

Captain Gerrard almost throughout the match wore an expression of intense focus and excitement, continually reminding teammates of their defensive positioning, ”Block the lines, block the lines! Intercept him, good!”

”Phew!”

”Bang!”

Liverpool players continuously went down to the ground, leading to frequent falls by Arsenal players as well, with the referee’s whistle sounding repeatedly.

”Beep!”

”Beep beep!”

In just over twenty minutes, Liverpool players had received two yellow cards, and Alexander Song had one as well.

Ma’el also encountered trouble in this match, finding it difficult to receive passes from his teammates, and even when moving back to get the ball, the opponent’s midfield often managed to close in and cover him.

Everyone paid great attention to him, often having three people appear beside him to defend, even when off the ball.

This also stemmed from their stability in other defensive positions, enabling them to create an outnumbering situation in the right-back area.

There was no other way, with 11 starters, 8 had good defensive attributes, clearly ready for a fight to the finish.

Compared to before, Ma’el was not flustered; he was in great physical shape now. In the previous match, he felt very clearly that he could run the entire match without feeling exhausted.

Even if he increased his total running distance to around 13,000 meters in 90 minutes, his body could handle it.

He could continually move and reposition to deplete the physical energy of those marking him. Anyway, once he started running, he often could lead two or three people to move quickly along with him.

This was very exhausting for the defenders; he did not believe that in the second half, Liverpool could bring on players with the same intensity of defense as Martin Kelly and Henderson.

First, chip away at their stamina, then use the ultimate move to strive for a one-hit kill..... In such two-legged matches, striving for away goals is very important.

...

”Ah....!”

In the 41st minute of the match, a scream shattered the silence on the field, with Vermaelen, who started today, falling in the defender position.

Due to Mertesacker being too fatigued, he was not selected for today’s squad. If he had to go off, Arsenal could only bring on Zhu Lu, who had often been a scapegoat, to partner with Koscielny.

Wenger frowned while standing on the sidelines, and after watching for a while, he saw the physio indicating to him with a wave that Vermaelen could not continue.

”Zhu Lu!” His voice carried a sense of helplessness, as if already exhausted.

The team actually had a pretty good setup at the center-back position; Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen, these three were relatively top-tier center-backs, each with their own advantages.

But..... their injury frequency seemed not low, with someone often dropping the ball.

Not only did injuries happen during intensive fixtures, but they could also occur during training, during national team camps; it was always possible.

”The Gunners shot themselves again!”

In the broadcast room, Zhan Jun talked about the joke regarding Arsenal, ”Wenger’s team encounters injury waves every season; it’s strange, clearly, he rotates quite heavily and pays much attention to players’ diet and rest.”

”One can only say it’s a matter of time and fate!”

”I believe many Gunners fans felt a pang in their hearts, familiar segments have arrived again! Let’s just hope they can withstand this period, they still have the unbeaten record in the league, and no one wants to take down the crown of invincibility!”

”Maybe, now the Gunners fans can only rely on two people: one is Emperor Henry sitting on the bench, and the other is the new king of Emirates Stadium, Ma’el!”

In the 43rd minute of the match, Zhu Lu ran onto the field, with nervousness in his eyes.

Behind him, Wenger was even more tense, soon feeling parched, and returned to the coach’s seat to hydrate.

”How’s Mertesacker?”

Beside Wenger, Henry rubbed his chin and turned around, ”This won’t do, I matched positions with Zhu Lu in training, his focus is too weak, he gets distracted even in training.”

”The physio said he still needs to rest for another week or two.”

Wenger replied to him, shaking his head with bitterness: ”January is tough to get through, I don’t even want to think about anything else this month, just getting through it would be good enough.”