Confidence is a really elusive thing.

It's hard to build, but once you have it, it's really different.

After the team eliminated Barcelona 5-1 on aggregate, Liverpool were held to a 0-0 draw by Aston Villa in the thirtieth round of the Premier League.

Rafael Benitez has tasted the benefits of the rotation system and continues to rotate the team's lineup.

Yang Yang, Crouch and Xavi Alonso were all put on the bench, which severely limited the team's attack.

With a combination of Mascherano and Sissoko in midfield, Benitez looks to have both a scouting of players and an idea of training his team, after all, as the Champions League progresses, the opponents will get stronger and stronger.

As a result, the team's attack was a mess in the first half.

Xavi Alonso came off the bench in the 60th minute after the restart in the second half, followed by Crouch in the 72nd minute and it wasn't until the 83rd minute that Steven Gerrard came on as a substitute.

In the end, Liverpool failed to find the back of the net against Aston Villa.

Martin O'Neal's side were very solid in their home ground, especially in the second half, which could be said to be almost airtight.

For this result, both Benitez and Liverpool fans are satisfied and feel acceptable.

Although, after this round of matches, Liverpool is two points behind Manchester United.

Everyone knows that there are still eight rounds left in the league, but the next knockout rounds are crucial and there is no room for mistakes at every step.

It's really hard to play on two fronts, especially in the Premier League, because there's no winter break.

Liverpool didn't have enough bench depth and had to make some trade-offs.

Manchester United beat Bolton Wanderers 4-1 at home thanks to a brace from Park Ji-sung and Wayne Rooney.

Chelsea also won Sheffield United at their home stadium, but Arsenal were beaten 1-0 away at Everton.

The current situation of the Gunners is indeed full of embarrassment, and there is no sign of the performance of last season's Champions League runners-up.

In the Premier League, they withdrew from the ranks of the champions early, and lost to PSV Eindhoven on aggregate over two legs in the round of 16 in the Champions League.

It can be said that the Gunners' form has indeed fluctuated greatly, but this is not a bad thing for Liverpool.

Because in the 31st round of the Premier League, Liverpool will host Arsenal.

This is the only Premier League team that Liverpool have not beaten so far this season.

…………

…………

Despite a miserable draw away from Aston Villa, Melwood's atmosphere is still quite good.

Winston Bogard returned to Beijing after just a week at Liverpool, and he couldn't rest assured that he was in his gym in Beijing.

Since training with Winston Bogard, Aurelio and Mascherano have come to Melwood early every morning, and they will train in the gym with Yang Yang, but the events are different.

After an hour of training in the gym, the rest of the Liverpool players are almost there, and they will start a lap-grabbing session, which is more of a warm-up and mainly involves moving their muscles.

Captain Steven Gerrard and Carragher were always the first to arrive at the training ground every morning, which they call a leading role.

The players who came early would form a circle with Yang Yang and other players who were training in the gym to practice for lap training.

Now, Yang Yang no longer takes the initiative to ask Ying to enter the circle to grab the ball, he trains like everyone else, and it is not easy for others to let him enter the circle.

The intensity of this training is not very high, and the players are relatively relaxed, and they do not forget to chat while training.

For example, in yesterday's game against Aston Villa, Mascherano played very well, played quite well, and almost scored with a long-range shot, but unfortunately it was still a little bit short.

If he did, it would be the first goal of his career!

The Argentine midfielder's overall performance has indeed been on the rise since joining Liverpool, especially in the past six months, after training with Winston Bogard, he seems to be becoming more and more confident on the pitch.

Yang Yang could also feel the urgency in his heart, after all, it was already the end of March.

With just over two months left before the end of the league and without a decent performance, how could Liverpool spend £10 million or two to sign him?

Yang Yang also took an opportunity to ask about Paco Yesterdam's situation, and both Gerrard and Carragher said that Yesterdam himself was still thinking about it, and Benitez wanted to keep him, but it was not clear how.

There is no good way for anyone to do this.

People go to higher places, and water flows to lower places.

Yesterdam is also playing for Benitez in Liverpool, and he must have the idea of developing on his own, such as Queiroz, who was an assistant coach for Ferguson back then, he went to Real Madrid to coach for a year, and then returned to Ferguson to continue to be an assistant after failure.

But Yang Yang's main concern is Benitez, without the lubricant of Yesterdam, can Benitez really control the locker room? Can he really continue to get along so well with everyone?

Sometimes, people change.

Yang Yang believes that Barcelona's players must be cheering when they send away the iron-blooded coach Ten Carter, and everyone thinks in their hearts that they must still be able to maintain self-discipline, and there is no need for a guy like Ten Carter to supervise.

But the result?

Rijkaard didn't keep it, which must have been enthusiastically supported by the players, but now, are the players still so supportive of Rijkaard? When Samuel Eto'o slammed Rijkaard on the spot, how many people came out to blame the Cameroonian striker?

Managing a team well is not much different from managing a company well.

No one is perfect, Ferguson, Rijkaard, Benitez.

But now, everything is really good for Liverpool, and if it weren't for the lack of bench depth, the team could really stick to the two-front battle.

Yang Yang's concern is not mediocre, Gerrard and Carragher and others also have such concerns, so after Yang Yang raised it privately, they also immediately communicated with the coaching staff and management.

But if Jesterdam really wants to leave, then no one can stop him.

……

'By the way, against Arsenal at the weekend, Javier and Fabio will be on and Alvaro will also start.

Speaking of which, Gerrard looked at Mascherano and Aurelio, "You guys play well, you have a good chance, you play well, maybe you will be in the Champions League next week." ”

As soon as the captain's words fell, Mascherano and Aurelio were overjoyed.

Arbeloa is not there, otherwise, it is estimated that there will be no more expectations.

All three players joined the team last summer or this winter, but have yet to fully prove themselves.

Needless to say, Mascherano has only played a handful of games; Arbeloa started both games against Barcelona in the Champions League and performed quite well, but he started at left wing-back, which he was not good at.

It can be said that this is a response made in order to limit Messi, and it will not last long.

In the long run, Arbeloa's rival should be Finnan.

As for Aurelio, he is constantly competing with Riese, but in both legs against Barcelona, Benitez chose Arbeloa, which made Aurelio feel the pressure as a left wing-back.

That's not a bad thing.

The right amount of pressure can keep players on their toes and make it easier to maintain their form.

Liverpool's opponents in the quarter-finals draw are Roma from Serie A, so next Wednesday's home game will be crucial, and the team will have to do their best to win it in order to play away in a more relaxed environment.

Benitez will certainly consider starting a player in better form.

As for Yang Yang, Benitez had already told him in training that when he played Arsenal on the weekend, he would arrange for Yang Yang to play for an hour, and then he would be replaced to prepare for the Champions League in midweek.

Yang Yang is very clear about his task, and the most important thing for him now is to maintain his condition and try to help the team go further, whether it is the Champions League or the league.

The only difference is that the Champions League is more imminent.

If he could, of course Yang Yang wanted both the Champions League and the league, but if he had to choose one or the other, then he would choose the Champions League.

He's been dreaming of a Champions League of his own for four years!

Liverpool have undoubtedly had the most confidence this season and he really doesn't want to miss it.

……

Relatively speaking, Arsenal's situation is not so good.

This season, insisting on fighting on multiple fronts, the final result is that Arsenal have been out of the game on all fronts, and they are doomed to be empty-handed in March, and what is even more tragic is that there are still many injuries in the team.

Thierry Henry is injured, Van Persie is injured and now even Gilberto Silva is injured.

Arsene Wenger has not had a single piece of good news in recent times, and the only thing that can be considered happy is the return of Togolese centre-forward Adebayor from suspension.

Now, Arsenal's situation is very similar to what happened to Liverpool in the first meeting between the two sides, both of which were at a low point due to injury.

But thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi, and now it's Liverpool's turn to be lucky, of course, taking advantage of his illness to kill him, why be polite?

The last time they lost away to Arsenal and this time at Anfield, Liverpool clearly have no intention of leaving their opponents back unharmed, even with the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals coming up in midweek.

Yang Yang still remembers very well that when he was at Ajax, Ronald Coman and the coaching staff once told him that Arsenal's biggest problem was their fitness, because they had to maintain their own passing and possession system.

It's hard to pass the ball, it's not hard to say it's not difficult.

But this style of play requires a lot of movement from the players, and running requires physical fitness.

Especially in the tactical environment of the Premier League, to face the impact of the opponent, the players need to run more and the physical consumption is greater, so it is absolutely no accident that Arsenal will collapse around the winter break every season.

Yang Yang believes that Arsene Wenger himself must know this problem of Arsenal, but this season he still insists on fighting on multiple fronts, and wants to play in the league, Champions League, League Cup and FA Cup, what is this for?