After joining the new team, Michael Carter fully integrated into the squad, actively trained, and adapted to Klopp's tactical system. At the same time, he earned the nickname "defensive dad."
The title comes from Salah. While others are offensive breakthrough players, using fake moves to confuse opponents and deliberately leaving loopholes for defenders, Michael is different. He acts like a ruler, deliberately leaving defensive loopholes for offensive players. Even if they don't fall into the trap, Michael continues to dominate the opponent, making it seem as if not falling into the trap was also part of his plan.
In Salah's words, when he faces Michael, he feels like a child, with Michael being like his father, always able to see through his thoughts and control him invisibly, leading him by the nose.
Some players were not convinced, like Firmino, Mane, Chamberlain, and even Henderson and Wijnaldum. The result was that they didn't last two rounds before choosing to give up. Maybe their psychological expectations were relatively low, so there wasn't too much negative emotion because of Michael's strength. As a result, the negative emotion value brought to Michael was not much. Added together, it only brought 6,323 points of negative emotion value.
Michael drew a lottery again and opened two bronze treasure chests, obtaining injury recovery potion × 2.
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The Premier League is the only one of the five major leagues that does not have a winter break. When the other four major leagues were suspended during the winter break, the Premier League was in the Christmas point battle. Although Liverpool gave up the League Cup and the FA Cup, focusing only on the league and the Champions League, the league still lost a lot of points, especially in the first half of the season. Injuries, frequent games, and the lack of depth in the lineup made Liverpool almost lose the possibility of competing for the championship. In the second half of the season, they could only fight for the Champions League qualification. After all, the intensity of the Premier League is not comparable to other leagues.
The day after Michael signed with Liverpool, they had a game. Since Michael had just signed, he was not included in the squad. The game against Burnley ended with a 2:1 win, but Henderson was injured due to a defensive foul by the opponent and needs at least one month to recover. This gave Michael the opportunity to debut in the next game.
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Weekend. Liverpool was set to play against Premier League upstart Manchester City at home. Manchester City, one of the Manchester duo, is known as the noisy neighbors by Manchester United's godfather Ferguson. Due to the acquisition by oil capital, Manchester City signed many big-name stars while spending money crazily. The worst player on the bench at their peak was worth 30 million euros on Transfermarkt. To put it bluntly, it is a team made up entirely of pounds. With the investment of money, Manchester City quickly won two Premier League titles. In pursuit of the Champions League, they invited the famous coach Guardiola. With Guardiola's arrival, the Manchester City era of dominating the Premier League quickly began. For Liverpool, Manchester City is a strong enemy. Klopp attaches great importance to this game. Every three points in the second half of the league is crucial.
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At six o'clock in the afternoon, the entire Liverpool team took a bus and arrived at Anfield Stadium, the holy place in the eyes of all Liverpool fans. Now, this stadium, which can accommodate 54,000 people, was already full. Fans waved their flags, holding scarves with the Liverpool logo in their hands. 54,000 people sang "You'll Never Walk Alone." Even though Michael was just sitting on the bench, he felt goosebumps all over his body.
He was included in the game list but was not arranged to start by Klopp. In Klopp's words, Michael is not yet familiar with the rhythm of the Premier League game. He planned to give him time to debut in the second half when the score is stable, so he can adapt to the game's rhythm.
"How is it? Spectacular?" Arnold, who was also sitting on the bench, asked Michael with great pride. Everything is a source of pride for him. Both his parents are Liverpool diehards. Even his grandfather and great-grandfather were also Liverpool fans. And he himself was born in Liverpool's youth training. No wonder people say he is the prince of Liverpool; he is truly a legitimate family member!
"Indeed! It makes you excited!" Michael nodded.
Arnold, satisfied with Michael's answer, smiled confidently: "I know you are from La Masia! Although Anfield is not as spectacular and large as Camp Nou, the passion brought to you by the team here is definitely not given by Camp Nou!"
Michael sincerely agreed with this because the atmosphere at Anfield is indeed the most passionate in all of Europe. The only one that can rival it is Westfalen!
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Liverpool at home.
Because Henderson was injured, Klopp changed the lineup and played a 4-2-3-1 formation.
- Goalkeeper: Karius
- Defenders: Joe Gomez, Van Dijk, Lovren, Robertson
- Midfielders: Emre Can, Wijnaldum
- Forwards: Chamberlain, Salah, Mane
- Center forward: Firmino
On the Manchester City side, Guardiola played the 4-3-3 formation he is best at.
- Goalkeeper: Ederson
- Defenders: Delph, Otamendi, Stones, Kyle Walker
- Midfielders: Gundogan, Fernandinho, De Bruyne
- Forwards: Sane, Aguero, Sterling
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Both sides started the game. At the beginning of the game, Liverpool fans began to create a warm atmosphere. In the ninth minute, the atmosphere reached its peak. Manchester City midfielder Fernandinho made a mistake in passing the ball under Firmino's relentless pressing. The football was intercepted by Firmino. He pulled the ball, avoided Fernandinho's counter-snatch, and leaned on the opponent with his body. Aiming at the gap between Manchester City defender Otamendi and full-back Delph, he made a diagonal pass! Chamberlain, who had been cruising outside the penalty area, accelerated instantly, bypassing all Manchester City defenders. With a successful offside, he got the ball and formed a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Facing Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson, he directly chose to push the ball into the far corner. Chamberlain was not the slanted-eyed striker of Liverpool in the future, so there was no embarrassment of passing the goal but not scoring. The ball fell into the net.
"Tell me loudly, the goal was scored by..." The DJ in the stadium screamed wildly. The next second, the fans burst into crazy roars. "Chamberlain..."
I thought a good start was the prelude to a victory. As a result, a goal seemed to open Manchester City's Ren and Du meridians. Liverpool did not score again after that. The double defensive midfielders formed by Emre Can and Wijnaldum were not very stable. Especially Emre Can, who made two consecutive mistakes. Manchester City quickly capitalized, and Liverpool's defense was directly sieved.
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"Beep…" The referee blew the whistle to end the first half. The fans looked at the extremely disappointing score on the big screen of the stadium and were very depressed.
1:3
That's right! After Chamberlain scored, Manchester City scored three goals in a row.
Looking at this score, Michael couldn't help but curl his lips. The first show was a disadvantageous game? No! Looking at this score, it seems that the first show is difficult enough!
At the same time, Salah walked into the player tunnel frustrated. He played very uncomfortably in the first half. There were frequent problems in the backline. Especially Emre Can, who made frequent mistakes and was intercepted several times in a row. Without a stable defense, the interception strength of the midfield was not enough, resulting in their offense not being supported. Often, the midfielder just got the ball, and as soon as he ran forward, the football was lost, and the midfielder lost possession!
For the first time, he had the idea of missing Michael. If Michael was in the midfield, providing defensive interception, the offense would be more stable and continuous. At this moment, he just wanted to go back to the locker room and give Klopp some advice.
"Let the defender play!"