Zhang Tiehan did not respond to Mourinho's statement, because he also felt that what Mourinho said was very reasonable, he was not very good in the league, no matter what he said, he had no strength, he needed a better table, and he wanted to prove his words with facts.

He was holding back his energy to prepare for the game.

He wants to ask Mourinho and Chelsea for a lesson or two in the game.

This time Zhang Tiehan didn't have anything to prepare, he didn't prepare anything to write on a white T-shirt, and he didn't prepare anything special to celebrate after scoring a goal, he didn't need those things, he needed to be a cousin, a goal, and a victory with the team, these are the most powerful.

Liverpool won against Chelsea, I led the team to victory with a goal, whatever you say is useless, and next time, you refute me? I still do!

At that time, no one will question me, and if you do, others will treat you as a joke.

That's what Zhang Tiehan thinks.

……

In fact, for Liverpool, for Rafael Benitez, it is a question of whether to field the full squad for this game.

Benitez's coaching philosophy is not 'try your best when you meet a strong team, and substitute when you meet a weak team', he has his own coaching philosophy, which is to try to make the team achieve the best results, such as in the league, a season is very long, there is no need to deal with every game with all your energy, sometimes when you meet a weak team, you can send all your strength, strive for all three points, and when you meet a strong team, you can temporarily avoid the edge, so that the team can get the most points at the end of the season.

It's the same in the Champions League.

Three opponents in the group stage, six home and away games, not every game has to be fought for, as long as they beat the weak team, then the team is almost certain to qualify. But it's also Benitez. Or Liverpool have no choice but to do so, they are worse than Manchester United, Chelsea and even Arsenal, without which they will not be able to achieve their best results.

And this game against Chelsea is only the first leg of the league between the two teams. Three days after the game, the first round of the Champions League group stage will begin, Liverpool's opponent is Real Betis, and it is an away game, that game must be won, compared to the two games, the big battle with Chelsea is not so important.

So before the game, Benitez considered using a semi-substitute lineup.

But in the end, he decided to send all the main forces!

On the one hand, the whole of England is talking about Liverpool and Chelsea, even if it has the influence of other games. But if the first half of the main team is sent, the responsibility for losing the game will obviously be on him, and the media will say after the game that 'Liverpool has conceded defeat in advance', then the pressure will be very high, and it will also be a big blow to the team's morale, and he will lose his prestige in front of the players, which is something that cannot be done.

On top of that, Liverpool are set to play Chelsea at least four times this season!

This is the first time.

If you can't win Chelsea at Anfield this time. Then in the next few encounters, the team will be psychologically weaker. Chelsea, on the other hand, will have an impact on future matches against Chelsea, so Rafael Benitez decided to try to win.

At least...... Can't lose!

He has already decided that he wants to fight Chelsea at Anfield, even if it affects the next European game.

……

Zhang Tiehan is no stranger to Chelsea, although he did not join Chelsea, but a year and a half ago at Wigan Athletic. still played against Chelsea, and Terry was the player who impressed him, but standing in the players' tunnel and looking at the Chelsea players one by one, Zhang Tiehan still felt very strange.

Very unfamiliar.

Chelsea's squad has changed too many players. Except for a few familiar faces such as Lampard and Terry, Zhang Tiehan feels very unfamiliar to others, but these unknown players are not unfamiliar with their appearances, after all, they often appear on TV and in reports, and Zhang Tiehan can still call them by name.

At the same time, many Chelsea players also looked at Zhang Tiehan.

A lot of Chelsea players are interested in Zhang Tiehan and they want to see this guy who dares to argue with Mourinho...... They are quite impressed, this is from the heart, at least in Chelsea, no player dares to argue with Mourinho, Mourinho is quite a dignified coach, often he simply says the same, even if it is wrong, as long as he says it, no player dares to refute it.

And in European football, there are very few players from other teams who go to the scene with Mourinho, mainly because no one wants to offend a world-class manager with excellent ability, in case ...... Just what if, they have the potential to play under Jose Mourinho in the future?

So no one would do that.

Zhang Tiehan did it, and the Chelsea players still admired it. Among them, Terry and Lampard know Zhang Tiehan, but they are not familiar with Zhang Tiehan, after all, they have no personal friendship, they are also surprised that Zhang Tiehan did this, and they also think that he has a lot of character.

The Chelsea players were not only surprised by Zhang Tiehan's approach, but also looked ahead at their main opponents.

Although Zhang Tiehan is not good in the league, Mourinho's arrangement of his defense is still not a little relaxed, and he emphasizes the defense of Zhang Tiehan to the players, because the Portuguese know very well, don't look at Zhang Tiehan's league table, but if the defense is lax, it is not surprising that he scored three goals in the half.

That's what a world-class striker is capable of.

Jose Mourinho attaches great importance to Zhang Tiehan, and naturally Chelsea players will also pay attention to it, especially when captain John Terry told them about the last time, that is, a year and a half ago, he and Zhang Tiehan had a bad feeling, which was not a good memory for Terry, until now he still remembers the game against Wigan Athletic, when he was weak in defending Zhang Tiehan.

He talked to his teammates, so everyone wanted to see this dangerous person.

Sure enough, it was as tall and muscular as it was reported...... Even if the game hasn't started yet, the Chelsea players know that Zhang Tiehan is definitely the most important opponent for their side based on momentum and some other information.

Finally, it was time for the players of both teams to play.

The radio from the stands on the west side of Anfield Stadium kept introducing the Liverpool players entering the stadium one by one, and Liverpool fans also chanted along with these names, and the chanting filled the entire stadium with great momentum.

That will scare the opposing player, and your own player will get more excited in the chanting.

That's home field advantage.

"Here's-Steven-" Gerald's name came over the radio. The narrator also particularly elongated the tone.

The fans in the Anfield stands immediately chanted, "Gerrard—"

Almost every Liverpool fan was shouting Gerrard's name, which brought the atmosphere to a climax. After introducing Gerrard, it was Zhang Tiehan's turn behind him, and many fans also shouted 'Zhang', but it was still much worse than Gerrard's voice before.

Hear this cry. Zhang Tiehan was not excited.

If Zhang Tiehan had just stepped into the professional league and had so many home fans shouting his name, Zhang Tiehan would have been quite excited, but now that he is a star, and he is a heavyweight £29 million transfer to Liverpool, his mentality is naturally different.

When the shouts of his name came to his ears, Zhang Tiehan knew one thing - he had not completely conquered the Liverpool fans with his watch.

Their cheers may be more due to their own value, the fact that they are part of Liverpool. He was the top scorer in Serie A and the Champions League last season, not because of his appearance, not because of his ability, not because of his liking for himself, etc.

In short, his quest to conquer Liverpool fans has only just begun.

……

Soon the competition officially began.

Chelsea launched a fierce attack on Liverpool in the first minute, and Liverpool were quick to get into the game and go head-to-head with Chelsea.

There was no temptation at all for the two teams.

They are already very familiar with each other, although this is the first meeting of the season. However, neither team has changed much in the summer, and the style of the team has not changed much. So the two teams began to use offense to fight for the initiative at the beginning.

Zhang Tiehan has always been in the middle of the formation, he didn't press too far forward, and he didn't position too far behind, he was always a little ahead of Gerrard, he was involved in defense, and he was also involved in attacking. The most common thing is to fight with Chelsea in midfield, which is a very important step in any game.

Chelsea have Claude Makelele and Frank Lampard in midfield, and they have some advantage over the combination of Steven Gerrard and Marcos Alonso. This advantage comes from the contrast between Makelele and Alonso – Makelele is better at tackling and Alonso is better at attacking.

But Zhang Tiehan's joining is different.

Liverpool is a 451 formation, really speaking, it should be 4411, Zhang Tiehan's retreat is the same as the midfield, and his ability to grab the ball is still very strong. At first, Chelsea didn't care, Zhang Tiehan retreated to midfield, but they thought that Zhang Tiehan was not much of a threat to the goal, which is a good thing, after all, Zhang Tiehan is a striker, not a midfielder, but when Zhang Tiehan snatched the ball from Lampard's feet twice in a row, they also knew that the team had to pay attention.

Because of Zhang Tiehan's involvement, Chelsea failed to play an advantage in midfield.

This was a surprise.

Many people are looking forward to Zhang Tiehan's ability to have a table in the front line, but they didn't expect that the first table is the midfield position, and Mourinho on the coach's bench is also a little puzzled, not that he is puzzled by Zhang Tiehan's stealing ability, such as Zhang Tiehan, a big man, fast, good physical fitness, and a player with a very strong physical advantage, the ability to fight is often very strong.

He was puzzled by Zhang Tiehan's position.

Zhang Tiehan has pulled back to only a little ahead of Gerrard, is this a tactic or his own approach?

Mourinho looked at the Liverpool dugout, where Benitez was sitting with his legs crossed, chewing gum in his mouth, seemingly unconcerned about the game, but never taking his eyes off the field.

When Mourinho looked over, Benitez also looked back consciously, and the eyes of the two clashed, and then both of them laughed, and they didn't know what they were laughing at.

Mourinho turned his head and a smile appeared on his lips, "Interesting." (To be continued......)