The British Championship is over, and the Premier League has also ushered in its finale.
Chelsea won the championship ahead of schedule, and in the final game of the league, Arsenal broke into the top four at the last moment and secured a Champions League qualifying spot.
The end of the league has focused all of England's attention on the 23-man national team roster, eclipsing even the upcoming FA Cup champion.
On May 13, 1,000 Red Army fans whose tickets had been stolen showed up outside the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, rain or shine, to cheer for their team.
West Ham fans on the other side are also discussing whether their 40-year-old forward Sheringham can play, and if he can, whether he can score a goal.
For the 40-year-old Sheringham, the Millennium Stadium is where he is preparing to make history: if he plays in this game, he will become the oldest finalist in the history of the Premier League; and once he can score, then he Will become the oldest player in England's history to score in a final!
After 120 minutes, when Gerrard raised the FA Cup trophy high, Heraclitus was very depressed.
Because, that means that he may have to make stricter qualifications for his classic statement that "one cannot step into the same river twice": On this gorgeous night at Cardiff Stadium, Gerrard led Liverpool Entering the same river that I had entered this time last year in Istanbul.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Facing the prestigious AC Milan, they were able to complete the impossible task even though they were 3 goals behind. Facing West Ham United, which was a level lower than themselves, Gerrard and his teammates were even more fearless.
In the first half, the Red Army's defense made consecutive mistakes. First, Carragher scored an own goal. Goalkeeper Reina then pounced on the ball and let Ashton shoot back to expand the score.
Afterwards, captain Gerrard made a long pass to Cisse to get a point back, and in the second half he volleyed to tie the score.
But in the 64th minute, Konchesky made a pass from outside the corner of the penalty area, but the ball accidentally passed through Reina's fingertips and fell into the far corner of the goal. West Ham United once again exceeded the score.
In the subsequent games, Benitez replaced Crouch and Alonso one after another, but it had no effect.
In the 88th minute of the game, West Ham United, which was confident of victory, replaced veteran Sheringham in order to delay the game, and he became the third oldest player in the history of the FA Cup final.
Seeing that the game was about to end, in the 90th minute, captain Gerrard stood up again.
He blasted open the door of West Ham United with a long-range shot, helping Liverpool drag the game into overtime.
After tenaciously equalizing the score in regular time, Liverpool dragged the game into a penalty shootout.
In the penalty shootout, Liverpool, which had a psychological advantage, finally defeated its opponent with a score of 3-1.
With tens of thousands of people singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" and red confetti flying in the sky, the trophy was raised high.
Just like a year ago.
Although there is a game tomorrow, all the Southampton players are sitting in front of the TV, watching Liverpool win the championship.
"Liverpool is Liverpool and deserves to be the king of comebacks!"
"Yeah, just looking at this scene, I thought it was a replay of last year's Istanbul!"
"Liverpool is really awesome! Even though there are not many forwards, there are people who really stand up and score goals at critical moments!"
Reversal has always been a great proposition on the football field, which fully demonstrates the never-say-die spirit of football.
Liverpool is also a great team. Looking at the cheering Red Army on the screen, the Southampton players will inevitably have strange thoughts.
"Lao Gao is really lucky!"
"Yeah, I just arrived at Liverpool and became a champion in just one season."
These words were sour, and they were obviously the "heartfelt words" of the veteran who stayed on the team at the beginning of the season.
"That guy Cisse is so fragile. He gets injured again after he recovers!"
"Who says it's not the case? If it weren't for him, Owen might have returned to the Red Army!"
Several forwards gathered together to discuss the current situation of Liverpool's forward weakness.
"Gerrard is the real soul of the team!"
"With a player like Gerrard as the captain of a team, the players will dare to fight even if they face aliens!"
"Winter, Liverpool is also a great team. Are you interested in going to Liverpool?"
The matter of player transfers is not a secret in private. Although you may not necessarily tell the other party such detailed data as where you will go and how much you will earn, it is still clear to everyone whether you want to stay or not next season.
A talented player like Walcott can't hold back after playing for half a season and wants to go outside to see a new world; a guy like Wang Xiaodong who is unwilling to be lonely is even less likely to stay after playing for one season.
Hearing his teammate's joke, Wang Xiaodong curled his lips: "You're right, Liverpool is indeed quite bloody."
"But the question is, I go, where does Gerrard go?"
Everyone was stunned when they heard Wang Xiaodong's answer, and then they all looked at Wang Xiaodong in surprise.
"What's wrong? Am I wrong?" Wang Xiaodong pouted, "I just came back with two trophies a few days ago, and I saw him at the venue that day. What did he bring back? Isn't he the best team in the Premier League? Is there anything you can’t afford!”
In summary, in Wang Xiaodong's eyes, the captain of the Red Army is just an ordinary player.
After looking up and down a few more times, the teammates suddenly realized.
The best team in the Premier League this season is Joe Cole, Alonso, Lampard and Gerrard. If Wang Xiaodong plays in the Premier League next season, he will really have a position conflict with the above-mentioned people.
Just like Ronaldinho and Ruud van Nistelrooy of Manchester United, although their positions do not completely overlap, one day they will form a life-or-death situation.
If Wang Xiaodong and Gerrard became teammates, this day might come earlier.
"So Dong, where do you want to go?" Teammate Youji Thief asked secretly.
Of course Wang Xiaodong couldn't talk about this matter casually, just like the unpleasantness he and Walcott had caused in the winter.
If he hadn't helped Little Tiger catch up with someone later, there might still be a gap between the two that they couldn't make up to this day.
Before Wang Xiaodong could figure out how to get back to the opposite party, he saw Jack walking in with a frown on his face.
"Okay, today's 'training' is over. It's getting late. Let's go back and have a rest early."
"Recharge your batteries and strive to completely defeat your opponent at home!"
"Ho ho ho ho ho!!!" Everyone responded in unison.
In this way, the team members gathered together in twos and threes, chatting about tomorrow's game while walking towards the parking lot.
There is a game tomorrow, and those who make the roster tonight are strictly restraining themselves.
After all the team members left, Jack simply packed up the chairs in the hall, locked the door, and ran upstairs in three steps.
The sky has darkened, and the office building at Staplewood Training Base is quiet.
Only the light shines from the end of the third-floor corridor, which is Kevin Keegan's office.
"Mr. Keegan, the team members have all gone home." Jack knocked on the door a few times and walked in.
"Yes, I understand." Keegan, who was lying on the table, said simply without raising his head, "Jack, you should go back and rest early."
"No, coach, I can't leave yet!" Jack shook his head decisively, "Coach, I won't leave if you don't leave."
"Hey, okay, then you can stay here with me."
Keegan's desk was covered with documents, including not only his opponent's intelligence analysis, but also the papyrus he had just calculated.
For tomorrow's game, Keegan took great pains to formulate three sets of main tactics and several sets of emergency tactics.
How to play when you are ahead, how to play when you are behind, how to play in the first half, how to play in the second half, how to play in overtime... How to play when there is one more person on the field, how to play when there is one less person on the field, how to play when there are fewer forwards, how to play when there are less midfielders. , how to play with a young defender...
People only see the players fighting hard on the field, but often ignore the hard work of the coach and his coaching staff behind the game.
Finally, when the clock reached the number eight, Keegan put down his pen.
"Jack, thank you for your hard work, you still stay with me so late. I..."
Before he finished speaking, Keegan's body sank as he stood up, and sat down again.
Jack, who was standing by, was startled. He hurriedly ran over and took out a few pills and a glass of water, and fed Keegan.
After a while, Keegan's trembling body finally regained its composure.
"You can't do it when you get old..." Keegan sighed, and then laughed at himself, "Haha, I thought you were thinking of getting off work early today, but I didn't expect..."
"Mr. Keegan, stop talking, your health is critical!" Jack begged from the side, "If it doesn't work, tomorrow..."
"Shut up!" Keegan raised his eyebrows and interrupted Jack with a frown, "How about that? The players need me, the team needs me, Southampton needs me, how can I back down at this juncture?"
Looking at Kevin Keegan with a stubborn look on his face, Jack lowered his head and said no more.
.....
The next day, St. Mary's Stadium was buzzing with people.
Reading and Sheffield United, ranked first and second, advance directly to the Premier League, while Watford, Leeds United, Preston and Southampton qualify for the play-offs.
The rules of the play-offs are also very simple. The two teams intersect. The semi-finals are played over two legs, home and away. The winners of the two legs will decide the winner at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
So from this perspective, Liverpool is not the last final champion team at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, but the champion team of the British Championship play-offs this time.
No matter how powerful the Young Guards were in the past, they are now in dual financial and relegation crises.
Leeds United actually played pretty well in the English Championship this season. They had been hovering in second place in the first half of the season and were eligible to directly advance to the Premier League.
However, in the second half of the race, it got worse and worse, and in the end, it only finished fourth.
Southampton's experience of winning the play-offs was completely different. The all-out sprint at the end of the league not only made the players united, but their morale was not comparable to that of Leeds United, which had fallen from the top two.
Soon after the start, Kendi Jones used his height to score in the opponent's penalty area.
The man from Trinidad and Tobago is 1.88 meters tall and weighs 85 kilograms.
Anyone who sees his fierce appearance will associate him with those ruthless men in Africa.
"If you train him well, he will be as good as Duoba in the future!" Jack praised.
Duoba is Drogba. In the Premier League, who doesn't know Drogba's evil reputation?
Sure enough, not long after the second half, Kendi Jones once again used his body to squeeze away his opponent, received Bell's cross pass and pushed into the far corner.
2-0, Southampton temporarily obtained a safer score.
The team's first priority is to ensure that they never concede a goal at home again.
"On defense so quickly?"
After hearing the news coming from his teammates layer after layer, Wang Xiaodong curled his lips.
He hasn't scored a goal yet, hasn't played well yet, and the situation on the field is in the hands of his own team. Of course, he doesn't want to switch from offense to defense so early.
"What is the old man thinking in his head? Is he suffering from Alzheimer's disease?"
Wang Xiaodong grumbled and glanced casually at the sidelines during a dead ball opportunity.
"Eh? That's not right! Where is the old man? What are those guys doing? What's the excitement?"
Looking at their chaotic bench and the group of uniformed staff on the outside, at this moment, the Southampton players felt an ominous premonition in their hearts.
