After the Christmas schedule, Chen Ping relaxed a little. How many strong teams folded in the Christmas schedule. West Ham continued to cement their advantage by making it through the Christmas schedule as a promoted horse.

The Christmas schedule is over, and then the Premier League has about half a month of break. Because this period is mainly played in the League Cup and FA Cup. From January onwards, the FA Cup will be in full swing.

The first two rounds of the FA Cup are played by amateur teams against the knockout rounds of League Two and League One. It is not until the third round of the FA Cup that Premier League and Championship teams will play in the FA Cup. On January 8, the third round of the FA Cup will begin. Originally, Premier League teams, especially teams like West Ham who play European competitions, have a lot of games. Now there's another FA Cup and the pressure is really high for the team.

It's another time of choice. Chen Ping immediately summoned Julian Dix and Liu Yu, and the three of them discussed the following competition.

"Julian, what do you think is the best choice?"

Chen Ping had long thought that such a problem would arise. The schedule in January was a headache. Five days after the end of the 22nd round of the Premier League, on January 8, the FA Cup will begin. In the third round of the FA Cup, West Ham travel to Preston North End.

Four days later, on 12 January, the first game of the Carabao Cup semi-finals began, with West Ham travelling to Liverpool. On January 17, the 23rd round of the Premier League began, and West Ham were going to play Fulham away. On January 23, the 24th round of the Premier League began, with West Ham hosting Manchester City. On 26 January, the second match of the League Cup semi-finals began, with West Ham hosting Liverpool. If West Ham make it through the FA Cup third round, then 29 January will be the fourth round of the FA Cup.

And after playing the fourth round of the FA Cup, February 2 is the 25th round of the Premier League, West Ham host Crystal Palace.

The competition is still very intensive.

Two games have already been played in January, and there is likely to be six more games to come, almost every four days, or the whole of January, as in December, with two games a week. This kind of intensity is a huge test for any team. Although West Ham's bench thickness is okay, it is still very difficult to get two games a week. So of course Duan Xun has to make a trade-off. That's the case in English football. Because there is one more cup competition in the country, for many strong teams in the Premier League, there will be several more games in a season than the strong teams in other leagues.

Don't underestimate a few more games.

Because for a lot of strong teams, there are too many games in one season. Coupled with the national team competition, many core players of strong teams play 60 games a season. After so many games, the core players of the strong team will be very tired. As a result, by the end of the season, everyone's physical strength had reached a limit, and in the end, they continued to play in one breath. One more game at this time is a big burden for the players. If there are a few more games, it will be a very tough test of physical fitness. Just because of these few more games, many teams will collapse at the end of the season.

Why do many coaches of the Premier League protest with the FA?

That's why.

Because there is one more cup and too many games, the result is that the Premier League has a Christmas schedule and no winter break. Therefore, the strong teams in the Premier League are tired, much more tired than the strong teams in other leagues. At the last minute, the Premier League teams always drop their chains. So slamming the Premier League's Christmas schedule, there are a lot of Premier League coaches in the Premier League who don't have a winter break.

The same goes for Chen Ping.

I don't like so much for the Premier League. But even if he doesn't like it, Chen Ping is just a coach, and he can only accept it. So at this time, Chen Ping needs to make a choice.

"Chen, it's really hard to choose. ”

Julian Dix is also scratching his head.

Then he said: "Chen, in the history of the Premier League, it is not once or twice that the lead of more than a dozen points was reversed, but it has happened several times. Chelsea have been in a strong run of late, winning almost consecutive games and are the only team to have won four in a row on Christmas fixtures. You're right, Chelsea's form is out and Chelsea are our biggest rivals. But it's a shame to give up the Carabao Cup. After all, there are now three games left to win the League Cup. It's possible to win a championship in three games, and it's a shame to give up. ”

Julian Dix is talking about Chen Ping's distress.

Arsenal have started to fall out of the team, are not in great form and have no chance of competing for the title this season. But Chelsea's form is getting better and better, and it's six wins in a row so far, which is an astonishing form. With Jose Mourinho's transformation of Chelsea completed, Chelsea are now balanced in attack and defence, and the bench is strong enough. In the next game, Chelsea will be very ferocious in their point grabbing. Although West Ham currently have a big lead, Chelsea's state still worries Julian Dix.

There have been many turnarounds in the history of the Premier League.

Manchester United, in particular, are good at turning the tables. Not to mention that the 9596 season drove Kevin Keegan to make a big comeback, including the 0203 season, Arsenal was also a dozen points ahead of Manchester United, but the final result was overturned by Manchester United. Of course, Manchester United also had times when it was overturned, that is, in the 9798 season, Manchester United was ten points ahead of Arsenal, and was finally overturned by Arsenal. This is all too common in the Premier League.

The lead is about 10 points, and for the Premier League, which has just finished the halfway stage, it cannot be said that it is a completely safe points gap. It is also because the Premier League has turned around at every turn, so in the 12 Premier League seasons since the establishment of the Premier League, only two half-way champions have won the Premier League championship.

There's no way Julian Dix doesn't care. West Ham are in such good shape at the moment that if they are overturned, it will be the biggest laughing stock. At that time, many people will not care about West Ham being promoted, but will laugh at West Ham with a big comeback.

But again, the League Cup is not easy to give up.

After all, they have all reached the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, and there are only three games left. But all three Carabao Cup games were tough matches. First of all, the League Cup semi-final was against Liverpool, and the final was against the winner of Chelsea and Manchester United.

Whether it will affect the league or not, that's what worries.

It's more distressing.

It's a shame to give up, but it's a waste of energy not to give up. As early as when the team easily reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, Chen Ping thought about this problem. It was too easy to come to the League Cup final, and it was a pity for Chen Ping to abandon it, and it would be a headache if he didn't abandon it.

"What do you think?"

"Do you want to give up?"

Julian Dix whispered.

There is nothing more important in Julian Dicks' mind than a Premier League title. For the sake of the Premier League title, he thought it was okay to ditch the other competitions. Winning the Premier League title is the biggest legend.

As long as he wins the Premier League title, Chen Ping will soar into the sky.

And not a success in general, but a legend that will remain in the history of football. And this kind of legend is hard to come by. For Chen Ping, there is only one such opportunity to create such a legend.

Chen Ping was also undecided. The promotion horse won the championship, this is the real legend of European football. The other trophies are embellished, including the League Cup winners, which are useless embellishments. But thinking about it, he always felt unwilling, Chen Ping turned his head to look at Liu Yu and said, "What do you see?"

"Me?"

Liu Yu hesitated.

Although he has always called Chen Ping "teacher", he does not even have a contract at West Ham. Now when he asks himself about such a thing, of course Liu Yu doesn't dare to say it directly. But seeing that Chen Ping had been looking at him, Liu Yu plucked up his courage and said, "Teacher, I think I can hit the league cup championship." Looking at the fixtures, our real test in the Premier League will not be until the end of February, when the 28th round of action against Chelsea begins. Our games against Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United and Tottenham are all in the next 10 rounds. Until the 28th round, we were playing against weaker teams in the league. As long as we don't waste too much energy on other games, I think we can handle the league. By the time the 28th round of the Premier League began, the League Cup final had been played. ”

"Julian, what do you see?"

"There is some truth. ”

Julian Dix nodded.

After thinking about it for a while, he said, "Chen, I think you can give it a try." In the middle of the Carabao Cup semi-finals, our league opponents were Fulham and Manchester City. As long as it's planned properly, I don't think there should be any major problems. But if we do want to win the Carabao Cup, then the FA Cup will be abandoned. Because of the two games in the semi-finals of the League Cup and the two games in the Premier League, we must make use of the main substitutions. If even the FA Cup is important, then ......"

The trade-offs are not easy.

But there have to be trade-offs. Because these games are so intensive, if you want to win them all, it's not so easy. Or in such a dense game, the substitution is also very important.

Because the main lineup and the substitute team need to work together perfectly to be able to get through such a dense schedule.

Therefore, the FA Cup should be abandoned.

In the past, as in the League Cup and the League Cup, it was not a good strategy for those powerful substitutes to go up and play in the FA Cup. Because even the substitution is very important. According to Julian Dix, the FA Cup game should be a combination of substitutes and some young players.

Chen Ping nodded.

Looking at the schedule, it can be regarded as accepting the opinions of Julian Dix and Liu Yu. Although the FA Cup is much more valuable than the League Cup, the reality is that it is easiest to abandon the FA Cup. After all, it's just getting started, and even if you give up, it won't be too much of a problem.

There are only three games left in the Carabao Cup and it would be a shame to give it up now. Chen Ping didn't like this, in fact, Chen Ping wanted to give up the League Cup decisively. But when I think about the fact that there are only three games left, I don't want to give up.

Man's greed is like that.

Sometimes this greed can ruin all efforts. But Chen Ping still wanted to give it a try, and didn't want to give up the League Cup so simply.

"Well, since we have all come to the semi-finals, we can't give up easily. ”

Chen Ping decided.

Although he was a little hesitant when deciding, as long as he decided, Chen Ping would not hesitate. On the contrary, as long as Chen Ping decides something, then he will be very decisive and follow the plan. Everything is the same, as long as it is decided, then Chen Ping will unswervingly go on. If you still hesitate after deciding, you are not a good coach.

On 8 January 2005, the third round of the FA Cup began.

West Ham travel to Preston North End.

If Chen Ping pays a little attention to the FA Cup, then Chen Ping will at least let the substitute lineup in his hand play. West Ham are still very strong on the bench at the moment, with a lot of quality players. In the current Premier League, West Ham's squad depth is only comparable to Manchester United and Chelsea.

Arsenal and Liverpool are not as thick as West Ham.

But Chen Ping has already made a decision, and he is indeed going to give up the FA Cup. Therefore, Chen Ping only sent a few substitutes who played less this time, and those main substitutes did not go up. Half of the players were promoted by Chen Ping from the youth team. A full line-up of substitutes and youth players was used.

Chen Ping's meaning is simple.

If such a squad can advance to the next game, of course, it is a good thing. Although strategically Chen Ping has given up the FA Cup, tactically Chen Ping will not admit defeat. Even if the players sent are weak, Chen Ping has to instill in them that they can't give up any game. Preston North End is more serious about the FA Cup than West Ham United.

For teams in the lower leagues, the FA Cup is very important.

The same goes for Preston.

Compared with West Ham, Preston is not full of attackers, but it is also a large number of main players on the field, hoping to get a good score. The result is obvious, although West Ham's young players are very hard-working, and Chen Ping is also very serious about deployment, but they have not beaten Preston North End as a low-level team.

The final result was a 1-2 loss to Preston North End.

West Ham lost in the third round of the FA Cup, and the defeat to a team in the lower leagues was still a big upset. Of course, the upset in this round is not only West Ham being eliminated, but also Liverpool being eliminated 0-1 by Burnley.

Many people were surprised at first.

After all, this is the third round of the FA Cup, and the Premier League teams have only just entered the competition, and the opponents are all teams from the lower leagues. Against a lower-league team like Preston North End, a strong team like West Ham was eliminated. However, looking at West Ham's line-up, everyone knows that West Ham is completely abandoning this game.

After losing the game, Chen Ping was in a normal mood.

I was ready to give up, but it's not always a good thing to lose. However, Chen Ping did not have time to be disappointed, because Chen Ping was about to play the first game of the League Cup semi-finals.

On the third day after the third round of the FA Cup, Chen Ping took the team to Liverpool.