In the next few days, Chen Xi began training in Liverpool.

Benitez did not make any drastic changes to his predecessor coach Houllier's squad during the team's group training, and he knew he should do things gradually.

As a result, he still uses the most common 442 formation in the Premier League.

The main goalkeeper is still the Polish goalkeeper Dudek, although he is already 30 years old, but his experience and form are at the peak.

New signing Finnan at the back was put in the main right-back position by Benitez, with Carragher and Hyypia in central defence, and Norwegian Reeser at left-back.

Midfielder Chen Xi naturally became the main force, he replaced the original team's left midfielder Danny Mofei, and the other three main players are still Gerrard, Hamann and Smitchell.

Xavi Alonso was a little disappointed when he was assigned to the bench in training, but he didn't express his dissatisfaction, but endured it silently, knowing that he still needed to prove himself on the pitch.

Luis Garcia is even more relaxed, he is used to being a cold bench at Barcelona, he did not expect to be a regular as soon as he arrives at Liverpool, he just feels that it is relatively easy to compete for a main place here than in Barcelona.

Up front, the England national team's high-flying and fast-growing partners Huskey and Owen are still the same.

Even though it's just an intra-team match, anyone who wants to fight for the main position is working hard.

The team has changed the coach now, and the coach has made it clear that the main position depends on the state to fight.

Chen Xi behaved calmly, for the simple reason that unless he was in an unstable state, Benitez had no reason to remove his main position. So what he has to do is integrate into the team quickly.

Although Benitez has not made any changes to the lineup, he still has some significant adjustments in terms of tactics.

In the match, he repeatedly asked Gerrard to plug in.

This obviously makes Gerrard addicted, although he has been a defensive player since the Liverpool Academy, playing full-back and midfielder, but he still has a strong offensive ** in his heart, but his discipline is relatively strong, and he will not change without permission.

Now Benitez is ready to free him, which is just what Gerrard is like.

In fact, Benitez is best at the 4231 formation, in his opinion, if there is a strong striker in front, it is completely possible to let Gerrard as the "second striker" behind the striker, which will allow Gerrard's attack power to show without reservation.

It's a pity that Liverpool doesn't have a person who fits Benitez's concept of "strong striker" now. Husky is quite strong, but this guy's scoring ability is really terrible. Irving is a good scorer, but his small size is destined to need someone next to him to help him attract firepower. Speed alone isn't enough to make him the team's lone arrow.

As a result, Benitez can only continue to use the four-four-two formation, and with Gerrard inserting more frequently, Hamann behind him will need to carry more defensive pressure.

It only took half of the time for the intra-team match, and Chen Xi quickly integrated into the team.

This is also related to the fact that Chen Xi gave up a lot of opportunities to fight alone and deliberately cooperated with his teammates. He was originally a player with a strong sense of cooperation.

It's just that when he was at Tottenham, he received limited support, and more often he had to choose to go it alone.

Now Liverpool has Owen in front of him, Gerrard in the middle, and when he is on the left, Reese behind him will often be inserted, which makes Chen Xi have a lot more contact points around him, so that he has more options.

Chen Xi's form and adaptability in training made Benitez on the sidelines very satisfied, in his opinion, other new players are not so urgent to integrate into the team, only Chen Xi, he can bring qualitative changes to Liverpool's attack, so he must be integrated into the team's tactical system before the start of the season.

Happily, Chen Xi doesn't seem to have any problems adapting to the team.

After spending two or three days and thoroughly integrating into the team's tactics, Chen Xi also began to show his personal ability.

He knew that there were still many people in the team who were dissatisfied with his young age to win the team's first place. Therefore, he also needs to prove that he is worthy of these high salaries with his actual performance.

This is a pain for the two fullbacks on the substitute side, Traore and Joseme, and Chen Xi often switches positions to impact the two wings of the substitute side, which makes the two of them suffer enough.

Josemi, in particular, is a new signing, who, like the rest of the players, wants to prove himself at Rafael Benitez and try to take his place in the team's rotation.

However, in the confrontation with him, Chen Xi let him know that the Premier League does not seem to be so easy to break through.

Chen Xi not only has the body that the British are proud of, but also has the speed and skill of perverts, and every time he breaks through, Josemi is unguardable.

Equally frustrating was the substitute goalkeeper Kirkland, who had Chen Xi as an attacking maniac on the side, and the most he had to do in almost every training match was to get the ball out of the goal.

Not to mention Owen and Gerrard, even Husky, a big and stupid man, seems to have opened his mind, and he always scores in every training session.

Chen Xi's crosses after breaking through the bottom were aimed at the heads of his teammates, and Husky's header skills were excellent in itself, and it was natural that his goal rate increased.

In addition to Chen Xi, Finnan, who was also a Premier League player before, has adapted to the team relatively quickly, and he has always performed decently at right-back. On the premise of doing a good job defensively, he can also make a difference in the assist segment. If nothing else, he will be able to secure a regular position in the new season.

However, Xavi Alonso, who had high hopes from Benitez, had some problems with his performance. Xavi Alonso is still a bit skinny now, not as strong as the one who came after a few seasons in the Premier League.

At the same time, he has adapted to the technical flow of La Liga, and he looks a little soft in the face of Premier League-level confrontation. In opposition to Gerrard, he is often eaten raw by Gerrard's clean breakaways.

After a few days of training, the young Spaniard had less smile on his face and was more silent. He even began to wonder if his choice to leave Spain for Liverpool was the right one.

Benitez saw all this, and he knew that he should stand up and give his compatriot his support at the right time, but not now!

It's only been a few days since he joined the team, and if his confidence is crushed, then Benitez will have to admit that he has lost his eyes.

To Benitez's delight, Alonso regained his fighting spirit in the next few days, and it is clear that as a Basque countryman, he has the spirit of the Basque country that never easily admits defeat!

Instead of resigning to his fate, Alonso took the initiative to make changes.

He actually took the initiative to increase the physical confrontation in the game, and also increased the number of tackles.

This made Gerrard, who had just been liberated by Benitez a few days ago, and the attack was rising, feel the Spaniard's defensive ability.

Chen Xi also felt Alonso's fighting spirit, and outside the training ground, he was one of the few people who came closest to Alonso outside of the Spaniards. When Alonso was not in a good mood the other day, he also gave some advice of his own.

Coupled with some psychological adjustments made by Alonso himself, this tenacious Basque man successfully passed the first hurdle after coming to the British mainland.

A week of training went by quickly, and on 27 July, the Liverpool squad came up and down Wales. They will play a warm-up match against Welsh side Conway United.

Conway United are a Welsh second division team, and Liverpool chose such a team as their first warm-up opponent, apparently to allow the players who have just returned from holiday to find their form, but also to take the opportunity to hone in the team. After all, after arriving in the United States, Liverpool's opponents are all top league teams.

The match also attracted more than 10,000 Welsh fans in attendance, which will bring in nearly £200,000 for Conway United.

Rafa Benitez fielded his most commonly used starting line-up in training for this game.

When England internationals like Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen took to the pitch, Conway United fans in the stands cheered them on.

Chen Xi's appearance drew warm applause from some Chinese fans in the stands.

There were also many reporters who came to the scene, because they all wanted to witness the debut of the "Three Musketeers of the Red Army", which was hyped up by the outside world, in the official competition!

Liverpool didn't get into the groove right away, but Conway United took the lead, with their only Welsh international Levelly giving Liverpool a blow from outside the box. At the same time, it reminds the Liverpool players that they are not here to play soy sauce today!

For the opponent's long-range shot, the Liverpool players did not pay too much attention to it.

However, in the following time, Liverpool's attack also began to show its power.

Chen Xi's direct cross from a 45-degree angle on the left almost assisted Husky to complete the header, but unfortunately the black man's header was slightly over the crossbar.

In the next Liverpool attack, Gerrard, who was cut in from behind, also threatened the opponent's goal with a powerful long-range shot.

Looking at the wave after wave of attacks with the Liverpool team, even the Conway United fans in the stands temporarily switched to cheer for the Liverpool team.

The fans' performance was a clear blow to the Conway United players on the pitch. Although from the moment they learned that they were going to play a warm-up game against Liverpool, they did not expect to be able to bring down the mighty Reds. But that doesn't mean they're not aggressive.

Instead, they didn't treat the game as a warm-up game, but did their best to cause some problems for the Liverpudlians.

The determination of the Conway United players allowed them to launch a very dangerous attack a third of the way into the first half!

The heart of the midfield, Lawrence, sent a pinpoint through ball down the left, which was cut in at high speed by their left-midfielder, the Welshman with the same surname as the United manager, and delivered a cross worthy of Ferguson's love for Wales Giggs.

The ball went around Hyypia in front of the ball and went straight to the head of the centre-forward Sarly, who was outflanked in the middle.

Scotsman Sully faced with this extremely comfortable pass, he went straight to the top and sent the ball into the gate guarded by Dudek!

The goal clearly ignited the enthusiasm of the fans in the stands, who instantly erupted in a huge cheer.

Conway United's players celebrated with excitement as they broke the goal of Liverpool, the most glorious team in English tradition.

Benitez, who was on the sidelines, watched the situation on the field with a grim face, and he was very dissatisfied with the players who underestimated the enemy, but he did not go to the sidelines to shout. He wants to see if the players will change because of the goal!

Looking at the Conway United people who were celebrating wildly, Chen Xi and his teammates naturally felt gloomy, the other party was a team in the second division of Wales. If they lose, Liverpool will probably become the laughing stock of the British media.

After all, in this summer's transfer market, Liverpool's investment is second only to Chelsea and Manchester United. And considering that Manchester United have sold two high-profile stars, they are making more money than they are spending in the transfer market. In addition to the investment of more than 20 million, the Liverpool team also signed Chen Xi with a high salary. If they don't show the quality to match their commitment in the pre-season warm-up games, the team's new coach Rafael Benitez and some of the new signings will be under a lot of pressure!

So, after the restart, Liverpool launched a frenzied attack.

Finally, halfway through the game, the "Red Army Three Musketeers", which Liverpool fans were looking forward to, finally tore apart the defense of Conway United with a wonderful combination.

Chen Xi used his speed to force a break away from Conway United's right-back and knocked the ball back to the edge of the box.

Steven Gerrard gestured at the ball and actually bounced it into the box.

Owen showed his sense of being an opportunist at this time, and he instantly exploded his speed, and directly accelerated to shake off the defenders and enter the penalty area.

In the face of Gerrard's well-timed pick-and-roll pass, Owen swept the ball directly into the far corner of the goal!

Even if it's just a normal warm-up game and against a Welsh second division side that is significantly inferior to Liverpool. But after seeing a wonderful combination of the three people he had high hopes for, Benitez on the sidelines waved his arm excitedly.

However, he soon realized that his actions were not appropriate for such an occasion. He is the coach of a big team, so he should pay attention to his demeanor. Well, watch the demeanor!

No, the three people who played a wonderful match on the field showed superstar style. They didn't celebrate wildly, the three of them just got together, hugged each other and high-fived each other in celebration.

Of course, in the hearts of Chen Xi and the three of them, they were also very satisfied with this cooperation.

Conway United, who had been tied the score, attacked again after re-serving and wanted to score again. It's a pity that they have no choice but to find that after the Liverpool team's backline concentrates their attention, their attack is difficult to set off storms.

Liverpool's two full-backs are both good defenders, and the two central defenders, Hyypia and Carragher, are complementary in style, Hyypia is tall but a little slow to turn, but Carragher, who often plays as a full-back, can make up for this.

Such a backline, placed in the entire Premier League, can be regarded as the top, and it is naturally easy to face such a Welsh second division team. If they hadn't been too relaxed before, Conway United's simple front-court combination would have been difficult to tear apart the Liverpool defence!

After stabilizing the defense, Chen Xi and other offensive players will be able to attack more calmly.

Before the end of the first half, Chen Xi broke through on the left side again and knocked back to the middle, this time Gerrard did not give up another chance to shoot, and his long-range shot with his surname sent the ball to the top left corner of the goal!

Conway United's goalkeeper didn't even react, 2-1, Liverpool overtook the score!

After the break, Rafael Benitez made some changes to his line-up, with Luis Garcia coming on for Smitchell, Alonso for Hamann and Baros for Heskey.

Luis Garcia's position is rather erratic, and he is able to switch positions with Chen Xi on both flanks.

After Husky went off, Chen Xi also reduced the number of crosses and began to cooperate with the middle.

Ten minutes into the second half, Chen Xi suddenly hit a through ball after hitting the middle, and it tore apart the back line of Conway United. Czech striker Baros cleverly intervened, controlled the ball, and calmly pushed the ball into the goal.

As soon as he got on the field, Baros was also very excited, and he directly gave Chen Xi a hug!

Chen Xi obviously knows that assisting his teammates is the best way for him to win people's hearts.

You must know that when he was at Tottenham, Chen Xi was the object of several strikers in the team. Just kidding, Chen Xi is the league's assist king. As long as he wants to, he can help a second-rate striker brush up on the goal stats of a first-class striker.

No, in Tottenham's team last season, Iverson, a very mediocre striker in the Premier League, was stunned by the double-digit number of goals scored in all competitions in the first half of the Spurs season.

Had it not been for the arrival of Morientes in the second half of the season, Iverson would have been able to score at least 20 goals last season. Of course, that includes the goals scored against the Fish Belly in the various cup competitions.

After Liverpool extended their goal advantage to two goals, Conway United fans once again turned back and began to support Liverpool.

The Liverpool team also lived up to the support of the opposing fans, and in the next game, Chen Xi took advantage of a direct free kick and a long-range shot opportunity to successfully score twice.

In the first official game for the Liverpool team, Chen Xi showed perfect form.

It's just that Chen Xi didn't pay too much attention to it. In his opinion, this is just an ordinary warm-up game, and the opponent's strength is really weak. It's time for the season to really show who he is!

In the end, the score of this game was locked at 5-1, and the strong attacking power of the Liverpool team was well reflected!

Benitez was also pleased with the team's form after the game, saying in an interview: "It's our first game and I'm very happy, it gives the players more opportunities to show themselves and what we should change about the system. I'm also very happy with Edison's first game, he was perfect, he didn't seem to have a problem adapting to the team, he had a strong chemistry with his team-mates. But this is only the first game, and they need more time to put it to the test. Of course, I'm happy for his performance and I'm sure he can bring more goals to our team, not just for his own goals, but also for his team-mates. ”

Liverpool are next on a three-game tour tour in the United States and Benitez said: "It's the first game for most of the players, some are playing well and some are not, but things can always be improved. ”

On the goal scored by Czech youngster Barosz in the game, Benitez said: "I said before that we have four good strikers and Baros played very well and he showed the ability to put pressure on Owen and Husky. He's got good technique and pace and he's been a good help for us this season. We're still going to make improvements, and this is just the first game. ”

When Benitez was asked about the three of them, the Spanish coach couldn't hide his excitement: "All three of them are extremely talented players. We have reason to believe that the three of them will be able to spark between each other. They can be the most attacking duo in the Premier League. Of course, again, this is only the first game, and I think you'll see more changes in the next games! ”――

After playing a warm-up match against Conway United, the Liverpool squad returned to the UK and transferred from London to New York. There, they will have their pre-season real test.

Roma, Bayer Leverkusen and PSV Eindhoven will be Liverpool's opponents for this trip to the United States.

When the class of the Liverpool players landed at New York's JFK International Airport, the welcome was not as warm as expected.

Only a few dozen fans in Liverpool's red jerseys were there to welcome the Liverpool team.

This made Chen Xi and several teammates more embarrassed, you must know that a traditional giant like Liverpool has countless fans in continental Europe and even in Asia.

But this is in the United States, a country known as the soccer desert.

In their eyes, only top giants like Manchester United and Real Madrid, who have many superstars, can be popular.

Most Americans can count the soccer stars on one hand. Sadly, Liverpool don't have such players in their squad.

Among the fans who welcomed Liverpool in several games, Chinese fans accounted for nearly half. They were wearing Liverpool's No. 7 shirts, and they were holding posters of Chen Xi in their hands, and there was no doubt that they were all coming for compatriot Chen Xi.

"Hey, Edison, those Chinese fans are all your supporters, right?" Dudek asked enviously.

"Hehe, where there are people, there are Chinese. There are a lot of Chinese people in the big city of New York, and they support me because of my Chinese identity, maybe many of them don't like football at all! Chen Xi shrugged his shoulders and said.

"Well, why are there no Poles here!" Dudek said helplessly.

With a smile, Chen Xi waved to his compatriots and complied with some fans to sign autographs before boarding the bus to the hotel with his teammates.

On this trip to the United States, the Liverpool team participated in a warm-up tournament called the World Championship Tour.

However, among the four teams in the competition, only Liverpool seem to be truly worthy of the title of world champion, and even so, their honor is a long time ago.

However, Benitez still attaches great importance to this warm-up opportunity, after all, those three opponents are all European Champions Cup-level teams, and the gold content of such a warm-up match is quite high.

Liverpool's first opponent in this championship will be Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven.

The squad has a number of outstanding players in their squad, including their left winger Arjen Robben, who is already in contention with the big names in Europe.

This game has also been hyped by many European media as a direct dialogue between two talented wingers in Europe!

Chen Xi also knows something about the Dutch Peter Pan Robben, this Dutchman, except for injuries, there is almost nothing to stop him.

Therefore, Chen Xi is also very interested in this direct dialogue between the two.

After a day at the hotel, Liverpool and PSV Eindhoven met at the Giants in New York.

During the pre-game warm-up, Chen Xi and his teammates noticed that there were still many fans at the scene, which made the Liverpool players feel very excited when they thought that the stands would be empty in this game.

Men have an innate conquest**, and this ** is not only reflected in women.

Now, the Liverpool team has the best to conquer the football desert of the United States and want them to know the charm of football!

Rafa Benitez fielded a starting line-up for the last game against Conway United.

PSV Eindhoven also discharged most of the main forces, and the team of Romeddal, Van Bommel, Bauma, Kai Yueman, Heyserinck and others are all powerful players.

In addition to these people, Chen Xi also saw two familiar faces here, they are South Korean international Park Ji-sung and Lee Young-pyo.

Chen Xi, who was still more concerned about football before 02, was very familiar with the two, especially Li Rongpyo, this guy is known as China's nemesis, and China has been Koreanophobic for so many years, this guy has made great contributions. As for Park Ji-sung, Chen Xi vaguely remembered that this guy seemed to have joined Manchester United later, and he seemed to be mixing quite well.

Because of this factor, this match has also received a lot of attention from the Asian media. South Korea even sent a film crew to broadcast the warm-up match.

In the pre-match passage, two South Korean players also greeted Chen Xi, who is now a model for Asian players, although he is a British citizen, but his pure Chinese blood still makes many Asians regard him as their own.

At a time when most players in Asia are still struggling to play abroad, the young Chinese has become the hottest new star in European football, and has also led the team to the Treble.

Everyone envies Chen Xi, and it has become a matter of course.

Not to mention, although I and Koreans are not very good, they still respect the strong.

Looking at the two Koreans looking at him with reverence, Chen Xi couldn't help but feel a dark feeling in his heart. There is no way, as a fan of the Chinese team before the crossing, he has seen the arrogant appearance of the Koreans in the broadcast of the game! I can be regarded as revenge now!

Of course, as the recognized No. 1 Asian star today, Chen Xi also knew that he couldn't be rude, so he squeezed out a smile and nodded at them, which was a response.

Under the leadership of the referee, the players of the two teams walked out of the tunnel side by side.

The players from both teams know that this game is not just a warm-up game, but also that they have a responsibility to develop the American market for the club.

Of course, the players can't be expected to do something as technical as developing the market. All they can do is try to impress the Americans in the American game.

There's no way, this place in the United States is a lot of stupid people with standard money, and it hasn't been fully developed, this is a sweet spot that giant teams are competing for!

In the absence of stars like David Beckham and Ronaldo, who have absolute appeal in world football, they can only speak by their performances on the field.

Of course, compared to the relatively mediocre-looking PSV Eindhoven team. Liverpool still have some advantages.

In the Liverpool team, Owen is the most famous star, this guy is very handsome, and he is an idol star.

Chen Xi is also a handsome young man who has risen strongly in Europe, although his influence has not yet spread to the United States, but I believe that he will use his performance to conquer the picky Americans in this game.

In addition, the image of tough guys like Gerald, Carragher and Harman is also very much in line with the American aesthetic.

Of course, the Husky, which is seriously lagging its feet, we have to choose to ignore it.

In this way, before the game even started, the Liverpool team took the lead in terms of appearance. Of course, American fans are not nymphomaniacs, and if Liverpool really want to conquer them, they will have to show real skills. And Eindhoven is the first obstacle before them!

(To be continued)