Chapter 58: This is not Anfield
Since the first Premier League title in 1995, seven years have passed in a blink of an eye. How many 7 years does pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info have in life?
The last time Blackburn won the title, Henning Berg and Jeff Kenner were still young, Stam had just started as a regular at Cambuur in the Eredivisie, Finnan and Carvalho had just decided to become professional players, and Ibrahimovic had just learned the basics of football in the junior team.
And today, this new generation of Blake will once again stand on the runway to challenge for the Premier League trophy.
In the first Premier League championship that year, Blackburn Rovers were star-studded, and everyone was a well-known "big name" in the Premier League. Today's Mourinho is obviously lacking in stardom. With the exception of the older group of players who played Henning Berg, Stam and Jeff Kenna, no one else had any experience in competing for a championship.
The first Premier League title seven years ago was Blackburn's best era, Blackburn training camp has at least dozens of reporters every day, the players' every move will be reported in detail by the media, no less than entertainment superstars, in order to get exclusive interview opportunities with first-team players and coaches, some media offer tens of thousands of pounds for interviews......
Seven years have passed. Blackburn Rovers were not only removed from the Premier League's list, but even relegated to League One, hurting countless ordinary fans who love Blackburn's goals again and again.
It's been 7 years, and Blackburn is starting again. Fight hard, no matter how he ends!
With the official return of Paulo Ferreira on 25 April after suffering a minor injury, Blackburn's squad for the final two rounds of the Premier League is finally in place, and some of the previous injuries don't seem too much of a problem.
At present, the last two rounds of tickets for Ewood Park have all been sold out, and tens of thousands of Blackburn Rovers fans will even gather in the square outside the stadium to cheer for Blackburn through the big screen and the home team fans inside the stadium!
Blackburn Rovers only opened the first 15 minutes of the training session before the 34th round of the Premier League and Liverpool's make-up match, and in an interview with the media, team member Sun Jihai revealed to Chinese reporters from afar that the team had a large amount of training in the past two days, and everyone also felt a little tired, but "through the adjustment in the next few days, there should be no problems with physical fitness."
Although Sun Jihai is not the absolute main force of Blackburn Rovers at present, compared with Li Tie, who has played less than ten games in the league, and Li Weifeng, who has only made a substitute appearance in the league, Sun Jihai, who has started 7 games in the league this season and substituted for 15 games, is undoubtedly the most outstanding player among the three Blackburn Chinese internationals.
In the last two rounds of the league, Blackburn Rovers challenged the English No. 1 giants Liverpool at home, and faced Fulham in the final game.
Sun Jihai said: "We are the least famous team in the top three, so our mentality is actually better - we can be more aware of the strength of the mentality, to fight for every opponent, and the game will definitely let the fans see a bloody team." ”
According to the plan of Mourinho's team, Blackburn will have a fully closed training session at Ewood Park at noon the day before the 34th round of Premier League matches.
It is reported that in the last two rounds of the league, Blackburn may choose a new home shirt printed with the Premier League championship trophy.
Defeating opponents is an important weight to gain the respect of opponents in competitive sports.
Blackburn have beaten Liverpool only once in their past seven years, but when Jose Mourinho's side were in poor form in the first half of the fixture, the Reds were unable to win against their in-form opponents at home.
Many Premier League pundits believe that Blackburn Rovers and Liverpool's 34-round Premier League tie will be the winner of the season.
A Liverpool win would surely go to the former – as long as their already relegated Ipswich Town drew in the final round, they would be crowned champions of the league.
Blackburn's win will put them two points above Liverpool to lead the table again, while Fulham will not be a real threat to them in the final round.
Liverpool and Blackburn Rovers draw with third-placed Arsenal one point ahead of Liverpool to lead the table for the first time, while their final opponent is a desireless Everton. It's hard to believe that Everton will go all out to stop Arsenal and thus complete their first Premier League title against local rivals Liverpool.
And predicting this Blackburn and Liverpool game, most Premier League experts agree that Blackburn and Liverpool's winning rate is 55 open, Liverpool's lineup is more dazzling, with this season's No. 1 European striker Owen, and the coach is more experienced, but Blackburn has the advantage of being at home, the team is extremely strong, and there are no important players on either side who are absent due to injury, so it is difficult to judge the real winner.
In fact, at this stage, no one will underestimate Blackburn's strength anymore. Because even if Blackburn Rovers lose in the last two rounds, it will be at least a top-four finish in the Premier League.
And the top four in the Premier League is a reflection of its strength.
……
On May 9, 2002, a supplementary match in the 34th round of the English Premier League, against Blackburn Rovers vs Liverpool, at Ewood Park.
Blackburn's home fans uniformly wore half-blue and half-white jerseys to cheer on the home team on the sidelines, and from the pitch they looked around, the stadium looked like a blue sea.
In the last two rounds of the Premier League season, Blackburn Rovers will hand out the team's home kit for free at home, even if you are a fan of the visiting team. The move was designed to maximize home-court momentum and boost home-court advantage – a technique that Arthur learned from future NBA playoff teams.
As for the more than 60,000 sets of jerseys distributed for free in the two games, a total of nearly two million pounds, although Arthur was distressed, he was not stingy.
Because the wealth and influence that Premier League titles bring is not something that can be measured by millions of pounds.
The players came out to warm up, with Sky Sports' Martin Taylor introducing the line-ups for both sides.
"Blackburn have been as good as everyone expected this season, and in addition to the likes of Stam and Jeff Kenna, who have played in the Premier League, they also have a lot of young talent, such as England's rising midfielder Frank Lampard, Blackburn's midfield metronome Xavi Alonso, the wide duo of Duff and Benayoun, and Ibrahimovic, who is currently second only to Thierry Henry. A lot of people say that Blackburn have a weak squad, but I don't think they're weak, it's just that the stars haven't shone yet, and as long as they keep the lineup the same, they will definitely be stronger next season. ”
Motensen said: "Gyuli's winter arrival is a key signing, he makes Blackburn have more options in the front and wing, just look at the body, Gyuli is too short, but in front of the cover of Ibrahimovic, Drogba and other forward lighthouses, the Frenchman played very well as a winger and shadow striker, Blackburn's 8 million is too worthwhile." ”
"Well, that's good." Martin Taylor took over, "Before the season, Blackburn Rovers were worth far less than £100 million combined, and that was with 20 million Stam and 10 million Frank Lampard, but now? The guarantee is 200 million, especially their team goalscorer Wang Ibrahimovic, I heard that Juventus bid 25 million euros, but Mensa Bangsu threw it directly into the dustbin. ”
"Well, without further ado, the starters from both sides are on the pitch."
Blackburn Rovers 4-2-3-1:
Goalkeeper: Friedel
Defenders: Finnnan, Carvalho, Stam, Paolo Ferreira
Defenders: Alonso, Cambiaso
Midfielders: Benayoun, Frank Lampard, Damian Duff.
Forward: Ibrahimovic
Liverpool 4-4-2:
Goalkeeper: Dudek
Defenders: Reese, Hyypia, Henjos, Carragher
Midfielders: Borg, McAllister, Gerrard, Murphy
Forwards: Owen, Heskey
Blackburn Rovers were given the kick-off and the game began as Ibrahimovic flicked the ball on the halfway line.
At the start of the game, Blackburn Rovers did not launch a fierce attack on Liverpool's door at the beginning, but fell to the midfield, pulling the opposition defence back and forth, and began to patiently look for opportunities.
In this kind of game, which determines the final outcome of a season, the impact of conceding the first goal is very large, so there is no room for Blackburn to be careless.
Similarly, at the beginning of the game, Liverpool, who were away from home, did not want to concede a goal, so they did not come forward to attack ferociously.
In the first 15 minutes of the game, neither side had any good chances to score, and even the shots were only two or three shots, but this is the characteristic of the key game, there will rarely be a big score, and the vast majority of teams will focus on stability at this stage, first stabilize the defense and then want to attack.
Blackburn attacked again, Ibrahimovic received the ball outside the box and saw that there was no one around to answer it, and tried to shoot a lob from the perimeter, which was of high quality, but it was still saved by Dudek.
Blackburn had the ball again, and they started passing the ball near the halfway line again, Liverpool's McAllister hurriedly stepped up, Lampard immediately knocked the ball back to Alonso, and Ibrahimovic had quickly inserted into the box at this time, and the Spanish midfielder did not hesitate to hoist the ball to Benayoun on the right.
Benayoun also saw Ibrahimovic's run, and the victory or defeat at this time was tied to him, but now there was no one around him, Reese was close to him, and the two waited for Alonso's pass.
Benayoun leaned over, stopped at the ball, and then slammed forward. It's just that Reese, who is Liverpool's main defender, is not an idle person, and hurriedly started to post the defense again.
Benayoun's continuous speed change shook off Ritch a little and then hurriedly got up to pass the ball diagonally, but Benayoun, who was about to pass, was pulled to the back of the shirt by Ritse's hand, and at this time Reese's foot had already touched the ball.
It was this difference that Ibrahimovic had used his speed and body to force off the two Liverpool defenders and quickly cut forward into the box. However, now Benayoun's pass is wide and closer to Dudek than Ibrahimovic.
Dudek's heart fell when he saw the situation, but the thought flashed, and he quickly realized his mistake - because at this moment Ievee, who was in front of him, suddenly leaped to the top.
Dudek reacted in time, fell to the ground, and hit the ball with his right hand.
But even though his right hand touched the ball, it only changed its direction slightly, and the ball flew into the gate!