After dealing with Su Ye's affairs, Yang Yang began to devote himself to the adjustment plan during the winter break.

This was set up for Winston Bogard before he left, working with Yesterdam and new fitness coach De Michel, mainly because he was a newcomer and only 20 years old and needed more time to adapt to the Premier League schedule.

After playing the 22nd round of the Premier League, Liverpool ushered in two cup games non-stop.

They are the third round of the FA Cup and the quarter-finals of the League Cup.

Interestingly, both of these games were played against Arsenal.

Liverpool is a team aiming for the title, currently only three points away from Manchester United, the Champions League is in the round of 16, and the team is now in a good situation, whether it is the league or the Champions League, it has a certain competitiveness.

In this case, Benitez and the coaching staff had to make a choice.

As a result, in the next two cup games, Liverpool was not a main player.

Yang Yang also carried out half-way physical strengthening reserve training in the past ten days, mainly to accumulate strength for the second half.

After the Christmas devil schedule, Yang Yang's physical fitness is already a little unbearable, and it is rare to have a buffer opportunity, so he naturally has to stop and recharge his batteries to prepare for the next league and the Champions League.

On the other hand, Arsenal, the league is basically hopeless, and Wenger has a semi-main lineup.

As a result, Liverpool lost all two cup games, with the scores of 1-2 and 1-3 respectively, all at home.

Although this result has long been expected by media reporters and fans, it is still somewhat unacceptable, the League Cup and FA Cup are both hailed as a fig leaf for strong teams, Liverpool are now eliminated, in case the league and Champions League fail to make a difference, it will only end up empty-handed.

But the reverse can also be seen as Benitez and the team as a whole can focus more on the league and the Champions League.

The outside world has mixed opinions about Liverpool's choices, but in any case, Liverpool will no longer be affected by the cup competition from now on, which is crucial for the team's next preparation.

Especially the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Barcelona.

According to the Champions League last-16 knockout schedule, the first leg was held at Camp Nou.

On the eve of the Camp Nou game, Premier League teams are facing the fifth round of the FA Cup.

Fans familiar with the Premier League know that the FA Cup has always been scheduled for weekends, crowding out league time.

Liverpool are now knocked out of the FA Cup, so after playing the 27th round of the league on February 10, away to Newcastle, and away to Barcelona on the 21st, Liverpool have 11 days to prepare.

This will be a huge physical advantage for Liverpool when they visit the Camp Nou.

Rafa Benitez has even made the club prepare, planning to take the team to Portugal for a short training camp after the Newcastle game to prepare for the Camp Nou game.

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When Liverpool suffered two consecutive cup defeats, the Premier League's official website finally revealed the best award for December.

Manchester United and Liverpool both won five and drew one in December, with both teams performing very well, but there is one team that has also won five games, and that is Sam Allardyce's Bolton.

The team lost 3-0 to Liverpool in the final game of the Devils' schedule during the winter break, but that was already in January and had nothing to do with their December game.

Although Bolton are slightly behind Manchester United and Liverpool in terms of results, Sam Allardyce's five wins are clearly more rare, which has allowed Bolton to hold Arsenal under fourth place in the Premier League for a long time.

As a result, Sam Allardyce won the title of Premier League Manager of December of the year.

In the selection of the best player, Jim, a member of the Premier League judging panel, publicly said that this was indeed a very difficult choice, because Yang Yang was as good as Cristiano Ronaldo.

"It's undoubtedly a happy annoyance because both of these top players have put up really amazing performances and stats in December, with Xiao Xiao Luo having seven goals and four assists, and Yang Yang having six goals and seven assists, both of them are quite eye-catching."

'A lot of the judges in our group thought it was the hardest selection ever made in the Premier League.

But Jim also said that no matter how difficult it is, it is necessary to choose the best, so the judging panel finally awarded Yang Yang the best player of December.

In this regard, many pro-Portuguese media believe that this is suspected of sharing the award equally, because Yang Yang won the best of October before, Cristiano Ronaldo won the best of November, and now it is given to Yang Yang in December.

But Jim was quick to speak to the media and said there was absolutely no such thing.

"The reason why we chose Yang Yang is very important is his teamwork, Liverpool beat the opponent 4-0 in four consecutive games, played a crazy round of attacking storm, Yang Yang made a huge contribution in this."

"Sometimes, there's no way to measure a player's performance on the pitch with data."

"Cristiano Ronaldo has scored two goals in three consecutive games, but if you look at the whole month of December, he is indeed slightly inferior to Yang Yang, so we chose Yang Yang."

Yang Yang accepted the official Premier League award at Melwood and was interviewed, saying that he was proud to win this award for the second time, and thanked the Premier League official for the affirmation and the support of all fans.

"For me, it's an affirmation and a spur, and I'll continue to do it."

In the interview, Yang Yang also mentioned the desire of Liverpool fans for the league title, saying that he hopes to be able to satisfy all Liverpool fans after the end of the season.

As for his rivals Cristiano Ronaldo and Drogba, Yang Yang said that these are two great players and an example of his own hard work and learning.

Yang Yang won the Player of the Month for the second time, Benitez missed out on the Manager of the Month, and Liverpool won and lost.

At the same time as Yang Yang won the second Player of the Month award, the outside media also officially announced that the Reds have reached an offensive with West Ham United over the transfer of 22-year-old Argentine midfielder Javier Mascherano.

It has been agreed that Mascherano will temporarily move to Liverpool on loan.

Liverpool, meanwhile, have also sent an application to FIFA, mainly in the hope that FIFA will open up to Mascherano's transfer net.

FIFA stipulates that a professional player can only play for a maximum of two club teams between July 1 and June 30 of the following year, in order to prevent players from transferring too often in succession.

Mascherano had already played for Corinthians in Brazil before moving to West Ham and then for the Hammers after his move to West Ham, so he is theoretically ineligible to play for Liverpool.

However, Liverpool also gave excellent reasons, stating that Mascherano has only been given seven appearances since his move to West Ham United, a few of which have been in garbage time, most recently on December 3, where he played six minutes.

Liverpool's appeal was based on the fact that the player was a good player, having played all of Argentina's games during the World Cup in Germany, and that Liverpool believed he was good enough to strengthen the team's midfield, plus that he was not reused at West Ham United, playing only two full games, so he should be given special treatment.

FIFA accepted Liverpool's application but said it would respond within half a month.

The answer will be given at the end of January at the earliest.

In this regard, Liverpool has no choice but to wait patiently.

Mascherano flew from London to Liverpool immediately after Liverpool's announcement, participated in Liverpool's medical examination, and then directly followed Liverpool for training.

Yang Yang only met Mascherano in Melwood the morning after his arrival in Liverpool.

He is not small, but he gives people a feeling of tiger head, the frequency of his feet is fast, his running ability is excellent, and his fighting spirit is very strong, and his ability to hold and play the ball is also quite level, and Yang Yang was impressed by a training session.

Benitez is still quite vicious in terms of selection.

As the top player in the team, Yang Yang also congratulated Mascherano on joining Liverpool with Gerrard, Carragher and others, and chatted with him for a few words.

That's the norm for professional footballers.

Similar to Yang Yang's at Ajax, mingling with his teammates and mixing together all day long when he has nothing to do, it is definitely different, because Ajax has gathered a group of young players around 20 years old, and this group of peers will have this effect when they get together.

On the contrary, it is like going to Liverpool, from the thirties to the twenties to the teens, and it is impossible to get along.

Even if it is like Yang Yang, who joined with a sky-high transfer fee of 40 million euros, with the annual salary of the first tier of the club, not to mention the young players who were promoted from several youth teams in the team, even with the young French players Pangelle and Le Tale, who met in the Toulon Cup that year, it is difficult to get together.

Of course, not long after Yang Yang joined, Bangele was loaned to La Liga Huelva, and Le Tale was loaned to Le Mans in Ligue 1, and when the two met Yang Yang, they were somewhat embarrassed.

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At noon on January 13, the 23rd round of the Premier League.

Liverpool travel to Watford.

Rafael Benitez again lined up in a four-three-three, with Aurelio being pushed into midfield to partner Steven Gerrard and Xavi Alonso.

Yang Yang started as a left winger, but he has not been active due to his recent adjustment and physical reserves, but he has shown his strength as the heart of Liverpool's attack.

In the 34th minute, Kuyt, Crouch and Finnan cooperated continuously in the middle and on the right side, and Finnan sent an empty goal kick to Yang Yang, who easily ran to the position and pushed the empty goal, 1-0.

Crouch then doubled the score with a header.

In the second half, after the rematch, Aurelio sent a precise through ball, Yang Yang quickly crossed from the left side, and Crouch hit the ball in front of the goal, scoring a brace.

In the end, Liverpool beat Watford 3-0 away.

A week later, Liverpool hosted Chelsea.