Football: Starting with the Crescent Moon Slash

Chapter 121 Preview of the New Season

Liverpool ultimately defeated Real Madrid 2-0, with Jiang Yan contributing both goals.

Liverpool defeated Real Madrid, who fielded a largely first-team lineup, to win the International Champions Cup North America title, netting €2000 million!

A good beginning is half the battle.

After the match, extreme Real Madrid fans began to smear Liverpool's playing style online, saying that they defeated Real Madrid through dirty tricks, but many rational fans did not follow suit.

Following their loss to Liverpool, Real Madrid's management, led by Florentino Pérez, held a secret meeting and narrowly approved the decision to retain Zinedine Zidane.

Although Zidane failed to complete Florentino's mission, his excellent playing career and his influence within the locker room earned him the opportunity to continue coaching Real Madrid.

With the new Premier League season about to begin, Liverpool fans are leaving their predictions online, and calls for Liverpool to become the new Premier League champions are growing louder.

Liverpool's coaching staff, on the other hand, is facing a dilemma.

When it came to roster arrangements for the new season, the coaches struggled with deciding on Jiang Yan's position.

Liverpool's midfield currently features Wijnaldum, Coutinho, Henderson, Grujic, Lallana, Lucas, Can, Leiva, and Stewart.

The attacking lineup consists of only Mane, Firmino, Sturridge, Origi, and Ings.

The most important issue now is Jiang Yan's position.

The chief assistant coach, Gerardo Bovac, who is in charge of tactical design, believes that Jiang Yan should remain in midfield to utilize his all-around abilities and make him the linchpin of Liverpool's transitions between attack and defense.

However, Peter Kravitz, the second assistant coach and video analyst, did not support playing Jiang Yan in midfield. The German always believed that in order to bring out his attacking talent, he should be moved to a more advanced position, namely the "false nine".

Klopp is also troubled by this.

Kravitz and Buvac each had their own opinions. He was well aware that Jiang Yan's individual ability was too strong. He could be put into any position and be used immediately. However, if he wanted to really bring out Jiang Yan's attacking attributes, keeping him in the frontcourt was undoubtedly the best choice.

Klopp immediately made the decision.

In the new season, Jiang Yan will play the role of "false nine"!

He was paired with Brazilian Firmino and Senegalese striker Mane, who is also a new signing this season, while Origi and Sturridge came on as substitutes.

With the attacking line decided, the midfield selection becomes obvious.

Captain Henderson started in the center, flanked by number 10 Coutinho and Englishman Adam Lallana.

After the midfielders were confirmed, it was the defense's turn.

Compared to the attacking midfield, Liverpool has a deep reserve of players in the backfield, with many options for pairing them up.

First up is Dejan Lovren, the Croatian center-back wearing number 6. Standing at 1.88 meters tall, this right-footed center-back is Liverpool's aerial weapon in the penalty area. His height, jumping ability, and judgment of the ball's trajectory have been unanimously recognized by the coaching staff.

After a lackluster season, the Croatian has gradually regained his form in the European Championship, and his market value has risen from €1300 million last season to €1500 million. He is an indispensable part of the central defensive pairing, and both Matip and Moreno can partner with him.

Milner is undoubtedly the starting left-back, as for the right...

"Klein."

"Yes, I agree with Klein."

Both assistant coaches agree on the ability of this English defender. After all, he is only 21 years old and has a price tag of 2100 million euros. Even disregarding the advantage of being a homegrown player, he is considered a fairly capable right-back in the Premier League.

At that moment, Klopp precisely selected Trent Alexander-Arnold's medical report from among a group of player reports.

Upon seeing this name, Peter Kravitz, a video analyst, seemed to recall something: "I've watched this kid's game videos. He has good overall vision, and his crosses were quite good. He has great potential for development. What do you mean?"

yes..

'

The two exchanged a glance, and Klopp put down the medical report: "This kid seems to have good chemistry with Jiang Yan, and it's time to give Liverpool's kid a chance."

With the first leg of the Premier League match drawing ever closer, Klopp arranged a small training match at Liverpool's training ground, dividing the players into a first-team and a reserve team.

Liverpool's former first-team regular Sturridge was seen on the bench, prompting many reserve players to spontaneously gather and discuss the incident.

The arrival of Jiang Yan and Mane pushed Sturridge out of the starting lineup.

As he passed by Sturridge, he called out to Jiang Yan.

"Hey! Jiang!"

Jiang Yan stopped in his tracks. He had expected Sturridge to be as rude as James Rodriguez, but to his surprise, Sturridge simply said, "Jiang, I admire your performance, but I'm also capable of improvement. If you dare to slack off, I might just take your starting position!"

Jiang Yan felt uncomfortable after hearing Sturridge's words.

This was the first time he had ever encountered such a normal teammate!

"Don't worry, I'll be right here waiting for you to challenge me."

At this moment, Captain Milner walked up and patted the two on the shoulder: "That's right! We're all family, so let's compete fairly. If things get too tense, Mr. Klopp and I will be very troubled."

Seeing this, Klopp on the sidelines nodded in satisfaction.

This is exactly what he wanted to see.

Jiang Yan and Sturridge are demonstrating exactly what this Liverpool team lacks most—a competitive spirit!

As a seasoned coach, he knew very well that the substitutes were the ones who had the most contact with the main players. If the substitutes' level stagnated, then the main players would not improve either. On the contrary, if the substitutes kept pushing their limits, then the main players would also improve.

A truly strong team is one where even the substitutes are strong!

There are two days left until the start of the new Premier League season.

Liverpool's schedule for the entire season has been released, and their first match is at the Emirates Stadium to challenge Arsenal!

At this moment, Arsenal's manager, Wenger, was watching Liverpool's match against Real Madrid, accompanied by video analyst Campbell.

Horse racing.

"Liverpool are still the same as ever, they still love high-pressing."

"Yes, after all, this is a tactic that Klopp has been using since his time at Dortmund. The person who deserves attention is this one." Professor Wen pointed to the black figure in the video.

A video analyst nearby was reviewing Liverpool's squad list: "Sadio Mane, who only made his mark at Southampton last season, has been signed by Liverpool this season."

Wenger nodded: "Yes, he fits Klopp's high-pressing system very well, and his first step is very quick. This guy will definitely become a major problem for us in the future."

'

Before Wenger had even finished speaking, we saw Jiang Yan make a long run, dribbling past several players before finally scoring a goal.

The usually calm and collected man widened his eyes in disbelief after watching Jiang Yan's goal, exclaiming, "This..."

Is this Jiang Yan?

Seeing the video analyst beside him nod, Wenger finally snapped out of his shock: "We missed a future Ballon d'Or winner."

At this moment, Jiang Yan was sitting in the living room eating the nutritious meal that Emily had brought.

After he left Spain, the team that Benitez hired for him did not accompany him, so Emily took care of everything from training plans to diet during this period.

He was fiddling with his phone while eating.

The updated system rewards players with skill packs for defeating a Premier League team in the league, and his first opponent is Arsenal!

Speaking of Arsenal, this is truly a team with a glorious past. Whether it's the club's all-time top scorer Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, ​​Pires on the left wing, or Ljungberg on the right wing, these are all players who were once renowned in their respective fields.

"The first Premier League match is coming up soon... I wonder what kind of skill set I'll get... I'm really looking forward to it!"

Soon, Jiang Yan's first Premier League match will begin.

Their opponents are Arsenal's players under Professor Wengermo.

This season, they let go of players such as Gnabry and Arteta, and brought in players such as Xhaka, Mustafi, and Perez. It is worth noting that among them is Asian player Takuma Asano, who was brought in for 400 million.

This Gunners team has completed a substantial and large-scale reinforcement, determined to "recreate beautiful football" and win their first Premier League title under the new paradigm.

At the pre-match press conference, Wenger made no secret of his ambition.

"We did a lot this summer transfer window, the players are very confident, and we will play the beautiful football we want in this game to secure our first win of the new season."

"Jiang Yan? Hmm, we almost signed him. He's an excellent player, and I hope my players can contain him in this match."

"Klopp is an excellent coach. Although we haven't played against each other many times, he achieved everything during his time at Dortmund, but I always believe that we are the best team."

Meanwhile, Klopp brought Henderson and Jiang Yan to the interview room.

The media interviews focused entirely on Jiang Yan, who is currently the hottest player in the entire Premier League.

"Jiang, how are you doing in Liverpool? Do you still miss your time at Real Madrid? You won everything there, didn't you?"

Jiang Yan smiled into the microphone: "Right now, I'm only focused on Liverpool. I want to lead Liverpool back to the Champions League and win the Premier League title. That's all."

The sound of camera shutters clicking incessantly.

"Jiang, what's your opinion on Arsenal as a team?"

"They have always been one of the strongest teams in the Premier League, but today's victory definitely belongs to Liverpool because Liverpool has me."

The reporters present were immediately in an uproar, feeling that Jiang Yan's words were rather frivolous.

We'll see.