Chapter 426 The only thing that can delay Chelsea is time
This season is around the winter break, and 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 dare not take it lightly.
Especially after a difficult comeback victory over Crystal Palace and successfully tied the 58-match unbeaten record, it was time to face Liverpool in the League Cup semi-finals as a guest at Anfield Stadium.
This is definitely not an easy game!
Therefore, before the team set off for Liverpool, Pan Yi held a team meeting to cheer everyone up.
Of course, there was also a very practical 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 heavy debt owed in the first half of the season, even if Klopp leads the team to catch up, they are still hovering between 58th place. It seems that it will be difficult to get a Champions League seat next season. 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, or 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, we found the refinement tipping point of the Red Ocean industry.
To put it simply, Klopp's focus on cup competitions has yielded results, and they have also 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 still showed 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.
Most of Chelsea's games this season have been played by Courtois at goal, 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 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 were any other team, it would have collapsed long ago.
But Chelsea is still holding on.
And when the TV broadcast cut to the sidelines, Pan Yi could be seen standing on the sidelines, his expression not looking 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 Minho's good performance, it is actually mainly because Chelsea's offensive players are not in ideal condition.
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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 people who play 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 feel 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 substitution quotas.
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 he 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.
"Continue to attack, 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 field.
You must know that since ancient times, "a tie can qualify" often fails to qualify. In many cases, it is because expectations are too low, resulting in limited performance of players on the field.
If you just want to tie, 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 on the sidelines, the Chelsea players on the field also cheered up.
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.
Come back.
The ball fell to the feet of midfielder Goretzka.
When he saw Hazard approaching, he passed the ball directly.
The Belgian stopped the ball, turned around, and sent a diagonal pass from behind.
At this moment, Mbappe was like a bolt of lightning, quickly striking behind Moreno.
Both players are very fast, but Moreno has insisted on playing for almost the entire game, which consumes a lot of money.
Mbappe only came on as a substitute at the 80th minute, and their physical fitness is not at the same level.
Physical fitness will also affect speed and explosive power.
Mbappe rushed forward quickly, took the lead, waded the ball in front of him, and chased after him as quickly as possible.
Skrtel was just outside the penalty area. He immediately turned around and caught up with Mbappe, but the French teenager, who had just turned 17, suddenly poked the ball forward near the penalty area line and accelerated again. In the visiting team's stands, Chelsea fans cheered crazily.
Using absolute speed to pass people is one of the most popular scenes on the football field!
"Mbappé has accelerated again!
”
"My God, he's so fast!"
"He broke through, he went in, he shot...oh, he passed!"
Mbappe relied on his speed to rush through Skrtel's defense zone, rushed into the left side of the penalty area, caught up with the ball he just poked on the left side of the small penalty area, and glanced at the center, left
The foot sent a low pass.
The ball fell right in front of the small penalty area, and Lukaku rushed over at this time, met Mbappe's pass, and sent the ball into the almost unguarded goal with his right foot.
"The ball is scored!
”
"In the ninety-third minute, which was the last moment of the game, Lukaku broke the deadlock for Chelsea!"
"Mbappé used his speed to complete a wonderful breakthrough on the left and gave Lukaku a wonderful assist."
"We saw that Chelsea's players were very excited. This was a winning goal!"
"The entire Anfield stadium was cheered by Chelsea fans, while Liverpool fans were silent."
"With the live TV footage, we can see that Pan Yi was so excited that he rushed out of the coaching area and rushed to the sidelines to hug his players. He looked extremely excited."<
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"Ninety-three minutes, Chelsea finally scored!"
"Mbappe, who came off the bench, completed a key assist, and Pan Yi's substitution worked again!"
"This is the magic of Pan Yi, he can always turn the situation around at critical moments!"
"...Ah, the referee blew the final whistle shortly after blowing the goal whistle! So, congratulations to Chelsea, they won the away game!"
"In this way, they took an advantage in the two-leg League Cup semi-finals and laid a solid foundation for their championship!"
"Chelsea has been unbeaten in recent times, but every game has been very hard."
"This is like an exercise and test for everyone at Chelsea. I want to see if they have enough strength to continue to compete for the unprecedented honor of seven crowns."
"You know, in English football, there is only one triple crown winner, and that is Manchester United in 1999."
"Back then, they achieved this great feat by overcoming powerful opponents many times. The most typical one was the showdown with Bayern in the Champions League final..."
"The same is true for Chelsea now. From the winter break to now, they have been fighting in almost every game, but they have the last laugh in every game."
"This is really the temperament of a champion!"
"In another League Cup semi-final yesterday, Manchester City defeated Everton 3:1. Is this year's League Cup final going to be between Manchester City and Chelsea?"
"But no matter who Chelsea's opponent is, I believe that when Chelsea get through this devilish schedule, no one can really stop them from doing anything!"
After returning from Liverpool, Chelsea took a short break and then ushered in the third round of the FA Cup.
Fortunately, Chelsea's fortune was good, and their opponent in the FA Cup was Scunthorpe from League One.
Perhaps it’s because this team has never competed in the Premier League, and even the name is unfamiliar to Pan Yi;
Although they have produced famous stars like Kevin Keegan, their historical record and current strength are far from Chelsea.
However, they still caused some trouble for Chelsea during the game.
Because they fight hard!
Now coaches and players all over the world are proud of defeating Pan Yi's team. After all, they were "lucky" to meet Chelsea in the FA Cup, but they still have to risk their lives to play?
And what about Pan Yi?
In normal times, the attack would be the main focus, and goals should be used to teach such a low-level team how to behave.
But now the whole Chelsea team is very tired, so Pan Yi does not intend to fight with others.
He first arranged the opening attack tactics, and then sure enough, Abraham "stole" one before the game time reached 5 minutes.
Then, the game entered Chelsea's passing rhythm.
Although Scunthorpe fought hard, it was a bit like punching cotton with his fists, unable to exert any force.
In the second half, Pan Yi even asked his players to shrink a little and get up to fight back.
A Premier League team that is good at attacking actually started a counterattack when facing a English League One team!
But the effect is obvious.
In the 72nd minute of the game, Mbappe took advantage of a counterattack opportunity and once again used his speed to get past the opponent's defense and succeeded in a sneak attack.
In the end, Chelsea won the game with minimal effort and successfully entered the fourth round of the FA Cup.
It stands to reason that Chelsea fans should not be particularly satisfied with a 2:0 victory over a League One team without even a big advantage on the field.
But in fact, no one had any objections to this, and even the fans still sang praises for Pan Yi.
It's simple, they know the ball!
Under such a difficult and intensive schedule, as long as we can win games and avoid injuries, what kind of bicycle do we need?
In this FA Cup game, Pan Yi rotated all the players, allowing players such as Moses, Christensen, and Martinez who usually have less playing opportunities to play the entire game, and also allowed more players to win
A chance to rest and breathe.
And even these players who played, due to Pan Yi's tactical strategy, actually did not consume much in the game and recovered quickly.
Of course, in order to ensure the next two Premier League games, Pan Yi still let the players take a break after the FA Cup.
After all, January 14th is the highlight of the battle with Manchester United!
This is the decisive battle that determines whether Chelsea can break Milan's 58-game unbeaten record!
After this game, just two days later, there was the game against Everton on January 16.
After these two games, Chelsea's suffocating schedule during this period has come to an end.
This kind of suffocating pressure is really devastating.
Let alone a player, Pan Yi was a little out of breath.
At this time, he could understand why even the powerful Manchester United at the time, including the powerful Manchester City later, could not win the quadruple crown.
This is the FA Cup, adding the League Cup is too terrible!
Of course, now that we have reached this point, the most difficult period is almost over.
It’s time to cheer up and prepare to face the challenge of Manchester United!
In fact, the English media are already a little numb to the fact that Chelsea continues to win and is making great strides towards breaking the 58-game unbeaten record...
The numbness mentioned here does not mean not paying attention, but that I have slowly accepted the fact that Chelsea is really likely to break AC Milan's unbeaten record!
Whether it's Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Leicester City, or the mysterious middle and lower reaches of the Premier League, no one can stop this running Kodo beast!
The English media even lamented that the only thing that can delay Chelsea from breaking their 58-game unbeaten record is time!
In fact, what is really anxious about this record is that it is Italy.
AC Milan's 58-game unbeaten record is the pride and glory of the Rossoneri.
Some people may think that AC Milan's 58-game unbeaten streak has too many draws.
But it must be clear that when AC Milan set this record, it was the golden era of Serie A with the halo of the "Little World Cup". The seven sisters of Serie A - Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Parma, Fiorentina, Roma, Lazio, etc.
All of them are star-studded and possess extraordinary strength.
This does not include Napoli and Sampdoria, which have also won championships.
How strong was Serie A at that time?
Serie A teams participated in almost every Champions League and UEFA Cup finals, and many of them were even civil wars in Serie A.
AC Milan can exclusively enjoy this record in Serie A, and it is considered impossible for other teams to equal or break it.
It can be said that this is a monument for those who come after you to worship.
Who would have thought that an extremely powerful Chelsea would emerge in the Premier League.
When Chelsea tied Arsenal's unbeaten record of 49 games and surpassed this record to reach 50 games, the Italian side didn't pay much attention.
However, I watched Chelsea start to make mistakes:
Technician No. 51, no, he is undefeated in 51 games.
Then 52 games unbeaten, 53 games unbeaten...
In an instant, there were 58 games!
The 58-game unbeaten miracle that originally belonged exclusively to Italian football and AC Milan was shared with Chelsea by Pan Yi, the assistant coach who used to play for Milan.
The Italian side is a little panicked.
"Gazzetta dello Sport even started to come up with ideas for Manchester United.
"Continue to use the tactics we used in the first round draw with Chelsea, but we must be more proactive and try to use Martial's breakthrough ability to cause trouble for Chelsea's defense."
Manchester United's head coach Louis van Gaal was noncommittal.
He said that as one of the only three teams Chelsea has not defeated this season, Manchester United is very confident to stop Pan Yi's unbeaten record.
Arsenal's 49-game unbeaten streak in the Premier League was ended by Manchester United, so Chelsea's unbeaten streak is almost over.
"I can't comment on the specific tactics I will use against Chelsea. But one thing can be confirmed, that is, Pan Yi will definitely be defeated by me this time!"