spn December 5th, Goodison Park Stadium, the fourth round of the league group stage, Everton, who had a bye in the third round, occupied a clear position in the group with six points from two games.
Following closely behind is Everton’s opponent for this game, the Russian Super League team Zenit St. Petersburg. They drew with the Dutch Eredivisie team AZ Alkmaar at home in the first round and defeated the Greek team Larisa away in the second round.
, drew with Bundesliga team Nuremberg at home in the third round, with one win and two draws, accumulating 5 points.
After three rounds, Everton has 6 points in the group standings, Zenit has 5 points, AZ Alkmaar has 4 points, Nuremberg has 1 point and Larissa has 0 points.
In a single round-robin format in which each team plays four games, the top three teams in the group appear. In fact, Everton only needs one more draw and one point to guarantee promotion.
Excellent appearance, but in today's game, Moyes did not take it lightly. Zenit is not a weak team. Playing at their home court with the mood of scoring a point, it is very likely to become an Everton player.
The burden on my heart is so heavy that I might as well let go and have a real fight to see who will win.[
"The Russians are here to score points with us. Will we give points to the Russians?" Moyes glanced at the crowd with a stern expression and loudly spoke the first words of today's game preparation meeting.
"Won't!"
Everton players shouted the answer loudly under the gaze of Moyes.
"Okay, please remember that this is Goodison, our home ground, and 40,000 Everton fans are waiting for victory. No one can easily take away points here. This is the case in the league, and we are in the European war.
It's still like this! At Goodison, the three points must belong to Everton!" Moyes looked around at the players' expressions, nodded with satisfaction and began to announce the starting lineup for this game.
Li Yu will start the game. This kid has been in good form since he came back from the suspension to train together. Now of course Moyes wants the team's top scorer to play.
442. Today, Li Yu's strike partner was replaced by Cahill. The Australian was pushed up front by Moyes. After hearing the list of strikers, the Everton players roughly understood today's tactical arrangement and attack. In Goody
Johnson and the Russians had an offensive battle.
"It's like the boss got a shot of chicken blood today!" Johnson relaxed when he heard that he didn't start the game, and whispered in Li Yu's ear.
Hearing this, what could Li Yu say? He just nodded and reluctantly agreed with the bald man's point of view.
"What are you two talking about?" Arteta also came over, and as soon as he finished asking, Johnson said what he just said again in the Spaniard's ears.
"Don't mention it, it's a bit similar!" Arteta replied with a smile, "Don't mention the boss, do you know who Chelsea is interested in recently?"
"Ronaldinho?" Johnson said Ronaldinho without thinking.
"Kaka?" Li Yu also gave his own answer.
"It's not you, it's you!" Arteta pointed at Li Yu beside him and revealed the answer.
"Impossible, I didn't hear about it?" Johnson was still muttering.
"Get out of here and stay on the bench outside!" Moyes directly kicked the bald man out of the locker room, and the topic that the three of them had not finished discussing ended.
Li Yu didn't dare to be distracted anymore, as his chance to start the game might be ruined in a moment.
In fact, Moyes didn't say anything more and immediately asked the players to prepare for the warm-up.
While Everton players were warming up, Moyes was blocked by reporters in the mixed area of the stadium and had to be interviewed.[
A reporter asked Moyes maliciously whether the increase in Li Yu's off-field endorsements would affect his subsequent on-field performance, and how Everton, who is suspected of suffering from Li Yu's dependence, can solve this problem.
When asked about this question, Moyes certainly didn't have a good face and angrily said: "I don't understand how such stupid remarks can be made! Please keep your eyes open for a while and pay attention to the next game!"
Noticing Moyes' angry look, the reporter who asked the question was actually a little scared. The Scottish artillery was still very powerful against reporters. The reporter stammered and wanted to refute, "That's the fact."
"That's what you guys wrote." Moyes interrupted the reporter unceremoniously, "Everton is an 11-man team. Li Yu is on the front line, and the goal is his."
Responsibilities, as for other issues, please use your brain more!"
"The latest news is that Chelsea head coach Mourinho has publicly expressed his appreciation for Li Yu. Is it possible that Li Yu will join Chelsea during the winter transfer period?"
The person who asked the question this time was a Chinese reporter. The British reporter just talked nonsense, which made him feel that he was deliberately stirring up trouble for Li Yu, so he quickly asked a question to gain points for Li Yu.
Moyes, who was about to leave, suddenly looked at the Chinese reporter and said, "I haven't received any news. You can ask Mourinho!"
Moyes is indeed very angry. He is not only angry about the media questioning his team, but what makes him most angry is that the media is only focusing on one person, Li Yu!
Whether it is an interview before or after the game, he always has to constantly answer various questions about Li Yu. It would be fine if it was only the Chinese media, and even the local British media.
A strong head coach does not want to be replaced by his players. The problem is that Everton Club is also making a conscious request to give Li Yu more starting opportunities. In fact, Moyes also understands Li Yu's rise in the Premier League.
, brought a lot of extra income to Everton Club.
However, please don’t forget that he is the team’s boss and it was he who introduced Li Yu. However, the Everton team is not allowed to have a special player who is likely to affect the whole team. He has not considered this aspect before.
Problem, now this problem has unexpectedly popped up.
After calming down for a while, Moyes also felt that his thoughts just now were a bit too serious, which was very unfair to Li Yu, who had been working hard.
"If there is such a sign, I will put it out!"
Moyes is a very protective coach, and of course he is also very strong. These two points are very similar to Ferguson of Manchester United. Calm down, if the media continues to make trouble for Li Yu, he will still protect his disciples.
, of course, the premise is that this person is still within his control. Once out of control, a Ferguson-style purge is not far away.
Everton has never received such attention in the past. The sudden and huge changes made Moyes uncomfortable, "There is still a gap between us and the giants!"
At the cusp of the storm, Moyes noticed for the first time that Everton still lags far behind the giants in terms of its ability to withstand the media and its ability to adapt.
It just so happens that Li Yu's rise may be able to forge Everton's path to becoming a wealthy club.
Moyes stood on the sidelines for a while, going through several ups and downs in his mind, and finally solved the problem of how to treat Li Yu. The pressure and troubles he had been under recently were finally gone.
Li Yu, who was warming up with Arteta on the field, did not notice the abnormality of the head coach outside the field and was still moving his body meticulously.
"Oh my God, Lee! Didn't you notice the look in the boss's eyes just now? The news that you were being targeted by Chelsea must have come to him from the media!" Arteta said while warming up.
"That's all nonsense from the media. I don't pay attention to those things!" Li Yu finished stretching his body and started to get the ball to prepare for some ball exercises.
Even the Everton fans present can see that Li Yu seems very excited today, and why shouldn’t the fans be the same