Xu Zhu's Successor's Football Journey

Chapter 235 Super Genius Goalkeeper? !
The second largest cup in English football - the League Cup, the full name is the English League Cup, and the standard name should be called the English Football League Cup.

The tournament is a knockout match between all 92 clubs in England, regardless of division.This cup was established by the Football League in 1962 to allow clubs to have a knockout-based competition outside the league to challenge the FA Cup, which was run by the Football Association of England, because at the time the FA Cup was in The position in the hearts of fans is much higher than that of the league.

The Football League is in charge of the seasons of all 92 professional football clubs in England, so the cups it creates are highly valued by each club.So at the beginning of the establishment of the League Cup, it was still very influential in English football.

However, in 1992, 20 teams in the English First Division collectively mutinied, and these 20 of England's most outstanding clubs jointly established the English Premier League, which is now the English Premier League.

As a result, there are only 72 clubs left under the Football League, and these are still low-level clubs. If a club participates in the League Cup, it naturally depends on other people's faces.

But for now, for these top clubs in the Premier League, it is not a historical reason to ignore the League Cup. , but also to participate in the lucrative European Champions Cup or the UEFA Cup, if the results are good and go all the way, just like Manchester United who won the Triple Crown, the game can reach nearly 9 games in 70 months of a season, and nearly two games a week. field, and the players are not iron-clad.

Of course, even the teams in the Premier League are divided into strengths and weaknesses. For the clubs in the middle reaches of the Premier League, they have not been able to win the championship for a long time. If the rich clubs do not pay attention, they can win the League Cup to boost morale , but also as a second path to qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

And Chelsea's next game is the knockout round of the League Cup's top 32. Perhaps fortunately, perhaps unfortunately, Chelsea's opponent is Newcastle United, also a Premier League team.

At the beginning of this season, when a reporter asked about Chelsea's goals this season, Mourinho said: "Our goal is to win all the championship trophies that we have a chance to get!"

Yes, when he first came to Chelsea, with the support of the club's chairman Abrahimovic, after "generously" spending 1 million euros, Mourinho has reason to be confident about the new season. When he said this, he thought I thought so too.

However, 6 rounds of the league have passed. After experiencing the busy matches of the Premier League teams, Mourinho no longer has much interest in this cup, especially now that the opponent is Newcastle United who are also in the Premier League. , which made the Portuguese even more uninterested.

If one of his players is injured in the League Cup, even if he wins the game, it will not be worth the loss.

For Chelsea, the League Cup trophy is not as important as the safety of its players.

Therefore, on September 9th, in the 24-round promotion match of the English League Cup, Mourinho formed a lineup that could no longer be replaced:

Goalkeeper: Thomas Clarke

Defenders: Glenn Johnson, Celestia Babayaro, Wayne Bridger, Paulo Ferreira

Midfielders: Felipe Oliveira, Alexia Smelkin, Scott Parker, Thiago Mendes

Forwards: Edur Gudjensen, Joe Cole
Substitutes: Gremi, Alan Wang, Petr Cech, YM Macalambi, William Gallas

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Newcastle United is a well-known veteran team in England. It is one of the earliest football clubs not only in the UK but also in the entire European continent.

However, in the past ten years, Newcastle United's record has been very mediocre. In the Premier League, it has been ranked between 9th and 15th every year, making it difficult for fans to have a big impression of him.

However, this summer, Newcastle United also made a splash in the media, because they attracted the famous star Padrik Kluivert from the Barcelona team.

If you add the team, the world's superstar Alan Shearer, I am afraid most people will be shocked by their brilliant risk.

It's a pity that both of them have been balloon stars...

Even though Kluivert is only 28 years old now, his state is really unsatisfactory. This is almost the same as the high-spirited super genius who helped Ajax reach the top of Europe ten years ago.

"The 'Chasing Boy' in the past was once famous in Europe, but now, his state has declined a lot. Although the number of goals is not small, he wastes more opportunities." The media's evaluation of Kluivert, so this season, after his contract with Barcelona expired, he joined Newcastle United on a free transfer.

Aside from Kluivert who joined for free, in fact, this summer, Newcastle United sold the team's defensive general Woodgate and introduced England's talented midfielder James Milner and international player Butt. With all the heavyweight transfers put together, the strength of Newcastle United has declined throughout the day——
The worth of one Woodgate is more than double that of the other two combined! !
Perhaps, the player's worth does not explain everything, but at least, this also has a certain reference value.

Under such circumstances, the old Sir Robson did not have high ambitions. His goal for the team was to stabilize the league rankings and strive for the League Cup or FA Cup.

However, since this season, Newcastle United has had a lot of bad luck. First, the media broke the news that the team's legendary striker Alan Shearer and General Robson were at odds, and their performance in the league has been very low. Then, the coach Robson appeared. Sen's contract termination crisis, even a few days ago, a virus infection was prevalent in the team, which caused frequent occurrence of "eye diseases". Four players of Newcastle United have been brought down by the disease one after another.

Under such circumstances, the old coach Robson has been sticking to his post although he has a lot of headaches. This season, the team's goal is very clear, and that is the League Cup championship.

Yes, in order to have a good ending to his coaching career, Robson will definitely strive for a championship for Newcastle United within the possible range, and the League Cup championship is the best choice. The rich clubs pay attention to it, and in this way, Newcastle United will have a better chance.

Leaving aside the four giant clubs of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool, compared to other teams, the strength of Newcastle United still belongs to the top class.

On September 9, the round of 23 promotion to the League Cup finally started at St. James' Park Stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne.

The old Robson formed a standard 442 formation, and the legendary star Alan Shearer and the teenager James Milner became the team's double forwards as partners.

After the start of the game, Newcastle and Chelsea started a fierce competition in the midfield. Lee Bowyer, Nicky Butt, Jamie Janus and Lauren Robert sat in the midfield. Chelsea was once in a passive situation.

In the beginning stage, Chelsea's all-substitute lineup could not exert its strength at all, and there were always omissions in the cooperation of players. This made Newcastle's experienced legend Alan Shearer use Glenn in the opening 7 minutes. . Johnson made a pass error, made a steal in the frontcourt, threw away Ferreira, and went to the meeting alone to open the scoring for the team.

Although Alan Shearer is 34 years old this year, his physical fitness and explosive speed are simply incomparable with these young people in their 20s on the field, but his game experience and personal excellent skills make him always have Excellent play ---
The name of a legendary star can never be praised by the media! !
However, as the game time is slowly consumed, the performance of Chelsea's players on the field is getting better and better. In the star-studded Chelsea, if you want to gain the recognition of the Portuguese who is provocative, you can't do it without a certain amount of hard work and performance. Impossible, finally have such a chance to start the game, of course they have to work hard to show their strength, for example, in defense, even if they are easily passed by the opponent, they have to use tackles that are not afraid of yellow cards to show Own ferocity and fearlessness.

In fact, most of the players on the Chelsea team are not afraid of yellow cards or red cards at all, because even without these cards, it is still difficult for them to have a chance to play in normal games.

Closer to home, Wang Li sat on the bench today. Originally, Mourinho did not intend to let him follow the team to Newcastle. Since the start of the season, Wang Li has played almost all the game time for Chelsea. Taking advantage of this opportunity , Mourinho planned to let him take a break, but Wang Li finally decided to take a look.

In any case, the League Cup is also a championship honor, and I have never won any championship. If the team is unfavorable, I may still save the defeat with my own state. ... This is just an excuse for Wang Li to come with the team.

In fact, the main reason is that my good friend Thomas Clark started today, and he insisted on Wang Li to see his "majestic appearance". Therefore, after only 7 minutes of the opening, Wang Li saw that he was hit by a bullet...

"There is really no way for this ball." Thomas, who was guarding in front of the goal, said to himself comfortingly: "Single-handed ball, what can I do, but next time, I must defend it!"——
"I'm England's super talented goalkeeper who wants to compete for the main goalkeeper position!!"

(End of this chapter)