Enter the Christmas Devil's Schedule.

In the 19th round of the Premier League, Liverpool challenged Derby County away.

This was supposed to be the weakest team in the Premier League this season, but Liverpool played very dangerously.

In the 12th minute of the first half, Yang Yang created a threat on the left flank, and finally Crouch scored a goal, but then Liverpool's free kick was defended incorrectly and the opponent equalized.

Until the final stoppage time of the game, Yang Yang forced a breakthrough on the left side and passed to the penalty area, Crouch's header was knocked back, Yang Yang followed up and hit the goal directly, but was saved by the opponent's goalkeeper, and Gerrard missed in front of the goal.

Two to one!

Liverpool narrowly beat Derby County!

……

Three days later, in the 20th round of the Premier League, Liverpool challenged Manchester City away.

After 90 minutes of fierce battle, the two sides ended up in a 0-0 draw.

Yang Yang came off the bench in this game and created a few threats, but failed to score.

It was his third consecutive run without scoring.

……

Entering 2008, January 1.

In the 21st round of the Premier League, Liverpool hosted Wigan Athletic.

Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Wigan Athletic.

Yang Yang played the whole game in the first game, failed to perform, and the overall state was relatively sluggish.

……

After last year's Christmas Devils schedule was average, Yang Yang's Christmas schedule this year was even worse.

Fresh off winning the World Footballer of the Year, his form is clearly slipping rapidly.

Without scoring in four consecutive games, Yang Yang's performance has also begun to be criticized by many media, but the vast majority of media and fans are still relatively friendly to him, believing that after four months of excellent form, whether it is his physical condition or his mentality, it will take a while to adjust.

Dalglish said in an interview with the media that there is no problem with Yang Yang's strength and professionalism, and what he needs now is to readjust his physical condition and psychology.

"I'm sure that if you give him enough time and patience, he'll get back to his groove very quickly."

Many celebrities, including Alan Hansen, have also come out in support of Yang Yang, and players such as Gerrard, Xavi Alonso, Crouch and Kuyt in the Liverpool team have also spoken out, saying that Yang Yang has no problems, he just needs a little time.

was criticized for not scoring in four or five games, which shows that after winning the World Footballer of the Year and individual Grand Slam, both the media and fans have higher requirements for Yang Yang.

Now, they are all using the standard of the first person in world football to demand Yang Yang.

……

On January 4, the third round of the FA Cup.

Liverpool thrashed Luton Town 5-0 away.

Yang Yang was not included in the squad in this game.

……

In midweek, in the semi-finals of the Premier League Cup, Liverpool took on Chelsea away.

After 90 minutes of hard-fought battle, Liverpool drew 2-2 away at Chelsea.

Yang Yang contributed an assist, but still couldn't score.

……

In the 22nd round of the Premier League, Liverpool challenged Middlesbrough away.

Benitez arranged for Yang Yang to be a substitute for the purpose of protection.

Middlesbrough opened the scoring for Liverpool with an assist from Downing, and it wasn't until the 71st minute of the second half that Kuyt scored a goal to equalise the score.

Yang Yang came on as a substitute for 30 minutes and was still very active and hardworking, but he never managed to score.

……

In the 23rd round of the Premier League, Liverpool played against Aston Villa.

In the first half, Gerrard passed the ball, Yang Yang took the ball at the edge of the penalty area to get rid of the back straight stopper, and Kuyt scored a goal.

But then Liverpool didn't perform well overall, especially in attack.

With the decline of Yang Yang's form, Liverpool's attacking threat has also dropped significantly.

After a second-half restart, Aston Villa scored twice in three minutes before drawing 2-2 at home to Aston Villa thanks to a goal from Crouch.

Yang Yang contributed an assist, but still couldn't score.

Anfield fans weren't happy with the draw, as it was Liverpool's latest three-game draw in a row, which has led to Liverpool's lead at the top of the table shrinking.

Liverpool are in top of the table with 56 points after 23 rounds, but Arsenal managed to catch up and reach 53, just three points away from Liverpool, followed by Manchester United with 51 points.

It can be said that the lead that Liverpool managed to establish in the first half of the season is now in jeopardy.

On the scorer list, Yang Yang has not scored for a month, on the other hand, Manchester United's star Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a lot of goals, scoring a total of eight goals and one assist in six league games.

This also allowed Xiao Xiaoluo to chase seventeen goals on the scorer list, only five goals away from Yang Yang's 22 goals.

But even so, although Liverpool fans were anxious, after the game, they still shouted Yang Yang's name, cheering him on, hoping that he could find his form as soon as possible.

It is human nature to usher in a trough after the peak, and everyone will.

At the beginning of the season, Xiao Xiaoluo still had a goal drought of more than a month.

But the problem now is that when Liverpool lost Yang Yang, the attack was also affected, which in turn led to the team's overall scoring efficiency becoming very low, as evidenced by consecutive draws.

At the same time, Yang Yang also began to pay off his debts for the support of the previous media.

How did the British media support Yang Yang to grab the World Footballer at the beginning, and how to hype his goal drought now.

All of this was not unexpected by Yang Yang.

He also felt very strange about his current situation.

He still trains every day as before, still without any discount, never lazy, and in the competition, he is still so hard, and the running distance is not a lot.

But it's just that it's just a little bit of a feeling.

It was something he had never done before.

It has been more than four years since his debut, and he has never encountered the current situation.

……

In midweek, the second leg of the Carabao Cup semi-finals.

Rafael Benitez once again showed his cup game to qualify for the final at Anfield with a 1-0 win over visiting Chelsea thanks to a goal from Steven Gerrard.

Yang Yang continued to show nothing.

……

At the weekend, in the fourth round of the FA Cup, Liverpool beat Hawatt 5-2 at home.

In this game, Yang Yang did not enter the squad for the competition.

……

At the end of January, in the 24th round of the Premier League, Liverpool ushered in a defeat.

A 1-0 defeat away to the Hammers West Ham United.

It was Liverpool's second defeat of the season and also led to Arsenal successfully catching up with Liverpool in the table.

However, three days later, Liverpool quickly adjusted, beating visiting Sunderland 3-0 at home.

But since Arsenal are also beating their opponents, the standings in the standings have not changed.

It's just that Yang Yang's goal drought continues.

…………

…………

In the manager's office at Liverpool's Melwood training base, Rafael Benitez looked worriedly at his assistant.

Paco Yesterdam and Francisco de Michel, who were in charge of physical training, Mark Waller, the team's head of the team, Duff McDonoff, tactical analyst, and even Paul Small, the masseur, were called over for a meeting.

"What I want to know is, what is the situation in Yang Yang now?" Benitez asked worriedly.

During this period of time, Yang Yang did not score for more than a month, and everyone in the team was under great pressure.

Everyone knows that Yang Yang is the core combat power of Liverpool, he sneezed, and there was an earthquake in Liverpool, and now Yang Yang is neither injured nor has any problems, but his performance is not ideal.

"I followed him for a week as you said before, and I can conclude that there is really nothing wrong with his body, maybe he was a little tired before, but now he is almost recovered." Mark Waller, the head of the team doctor, frowned.

Yang Yang had a problem, the whole team was nervous, and everyone was under pressure.

He's Liverpool's baby bump now.

"We have no problem with our tactics, it's no different from before, I've watched the last few rounds of the game and the opponent doesn't have any obvious targeted tactics." This was stated by tactical analyst Duff McDonoff.

After a pause, the tactical analyst added: "I also specially analyzed his statistics on the field, whether it is running distance or others, it is quite normal, that is, there is a significant decline in the number of dribbles and passing threats, as well as the timing of running." ”

"Everything is fine with his training." Paco Jesterdam said succinctly.

"In the gym, he still exercises the equipment every day as usual, and everything is normal." DeMichelle continued.

Paul Small saw that everyone had said it, and there was some silence in the office, he hesitated for a moment, and replied: "I also think he is quite normal, just ......"

Benitez frowned, "What's that?" ”

"I don't feel excited enough." "Especially lately, I feel like he's under more pressure than we are. ”

Everyone nodded their heads.

It has been a year and a half since Yang Yang arrived in the team, and the club has also made a detailed assessment of his character, which is a very responsible player, self-disciplined and full of professionalism.

But it is precisely because of this that such people are often prone to putting a heavy burden on their backs.

Of course, this kind of character is a good thing for players, Yang Yang can come to this day and achieve such results, which is inseparable from his character.

"I think so." Jesterdam added, "After winning the World Footballer of the Year, I felt that his whole body was relaxed, he was originally tense, and this relaxation caused his form to decline, and then he continued to perform poorly, the team's results suffered, and he estimated that he was under a lot of pressure. ”

Benitez understood what Jesterdam meant.

Sometimes, the more pressure a player is and the more he wants to work hard, the more he will be on the pitch.

It's like Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo, the more he wants to score, the more he can't score.

But this guy seems to have opened his mind lately.

"Paco, what do you have any suggestions?" Benitez asked.

"Let him rest well."

"Get some rest?"

"Well, give him a vacation, forget about football, don't think about anything, and put down the baggage."

Speaking of this, Yesterdam smiled: "It just so happens that in a few days it will be their traditional Chinese New Year, let him go home for the New Year." ”

Benitez thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.