So far, Derby County has received a lot of attention from the English media due to their excellent league results, and with this being the semi-final of the League Cup, the clash between Derby County and Liverpool is still under the watchful eye of many people. Although the League Cup is like a chicken rib for the strong teams, this is the League Cup semi-finals after all, and the meeting between the two teams can directly determine which team will enter the final.

In addition to the Liverpool and Derby County match, the other Carabao Cup semi-final is also in the spotlight, which is also a clash between two strong teams - Chelsea vs Manchester United, but this game is played on the second day of the meeting between Liverpool and Derby County, so the first thing to focus on is the Anfield Stadium.

The night before the game, Wan Sheng's words in an interview at Derby's regular press conference were reported by various sports media.

In the post-Christmas break, you won't miss the news if you follow England's competitions.

Although Wan Sheng said Van der Vaart and Ivan Crewe are very good, and the media also reported the original words, but in terms of comment analysis, the people who believe what Wan Sheng said are definitely a minority, and even those Derby County support media think that this is just a smoke bomb released by Wan Sheng, after all, it is too short for a player to recover from an injury for a week, in addition, after Van der Vaart's injury, Wan Sheng and Derby County's anxious attitude of the whole team is not posed, in the eyes of most people, Van der Vaart's injury is definitely not light, It would be a bit unbelievable that he would have to recover before the Liverpool game.

Derbyshire's hostile media immediately stood up and 'announced', "This is just a smoke bomb released by the Derbyshire club!" Van der Vaart and Ivan Crewe will certainly not be able to play against Liverpool! ”

"Van der Vaart, Ivan Crewe, plus the previously injured Morris and Kluivert, Derby County can only rely on a set of substitutes in the frontcourt, and there is no suspense about the outcome of the game!"

A lot of the media was elated by this.

Although Derby County has played a good result, the media supporting Derby County has not actually increased much, which has to do with the division of English football regions, even if Derby County has a good result. It has also been difficult for other regional media to switch to Derby, so when Derby and Liverpool play each other, there are obviously more media outlets supporting Liverpool.

So most of the media would love to see bad news from Derbyshire.

'Speaking at the Derby County FC press conference, head coach Wan Sheng spoke about the recent situation in his team, talking about the injuries of Rafael van der Vaart and Ivan Crewe, and he stressed that the duo are in good shape.

'But it's certainly going to be difficult for the two to catch tomorrow's game against Liverpool'

"Derby County's midfielder Lee Morris is already injured, and without Rafael van der Vaart, Liverpool's midfield is empty and almost unavailable"

"It's good news for Liverpool. Liverpool's forward line has been a problem, compared to the two teams. Derby County are much better than Liverpool in front, but now without Van der Vaart, Kluivert and the main full-back Ivan Crewe, I'm afraid Liverpool still have a lot of advantages."

'Injuries have become an issue that Derby County can't escape and with the depth of their bench, we can expect a big impact on the next results'

"Perhaps the wisest choice for Wansheng is to give up the League Cup and UEFA Cup and focus on the league in order to keep the results"

"We have to admit that Mansheng's revamp of Derby County has been very successful. In two years, Derby County have gone from being on the verge of relegation from the second division to a team that can now compete for the league title, but that's all. Derby County are a small club after all, they don't have enough money to build a good squad, and even if Wansheng has a brilliant eye for helping the team recruit a lot of good young players, they rely on a few players. It's not easy to play well, after all, the league and cup are not just one game, a season is long. Under the leadership of Wan Sheng, Derby County can play a few games with Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and other giants, but after all, they cannot guarantee results in a long season. ”

"Now they are in crisis, before the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, their main squad has a lot of injuries, in addition to a fairly solid back, their front field injury problems are already very serious, and even directly affect the way they deal with the game."

The final summary was, "In the second half of the fixture, it's hard to see Derby County's flashy attack!" ”

Looking at the analysis of the Derby County Club by the guests on the TV, Wan Sheng sat on the sofa and kept laughing.

Dali next to her asked strangely, "You still laugh when they say that?" ”

"Of course." Wan Sheng lay on the couch, pulled Dali into his arms, and said, "I just want them to report like this, I want them to look down on my team." ”

"Why?" Dali was puzzled.

"Because what they said was wrong, the team's injuries weren't that severe."

Still puzzled, Dali asked, "So what?" Also, at the press conference, you told the reporters that your players are recovering from injuries, why do they still say that? ”

Wan Sheng smiled incomprehensibly, "The art of war has clouds, the virtual is real, and the real is virtual"

Dali didn't understand at all.

Wan Sheng originally wanted to pretend to be a magic stick, but it seems that Dali is difficult to understand this kind of inscrutable as an Englishman, and Dali doesn't understand what he says, looking at Dali's 'look at a fool', Wan Sheng put his arm around her right hand and squeezed it a soft mass, causing Dali to stare at him in disgust, and then explained, "I knew they wouldn't believe it, so I said that." They analyzed and analyzed, and they must not have imagined that what I said was true, they did not believe it, and the opponent would not believe it, so that they could paralyze the opponent, and before tomorrow's game, they would know that Van der Vaart and Crewe were not injured, and they would be very flustered. ”

Wan Sheng thought about it, and added, "At least it will have some effect"

After listening to Wan Sheng's explanation, Dali nodded clearly, and then suddenly looked at it suspiciously. said loudly, "I didn't expect you to be quite good at deceiving people, say!" Did you lie to me about something? ”

Wan Sheng was stunned.

"Or not? Look at you! Say it, you can tell me anything you have deceived me before! Tell me honestly, or let me know for myself, and you'll just wait! ”

Wan Sheng was stunned in a daze, and his heart really couldn't say more to women.

How wrong it is to say more!

Then he dragged another sentence and sighed, "Only villains and women are difficult to raise." The ancients did not deceive me! ”

Wan Sheng didn't know if his performance had deceived his opponents, and when he came to the club the next morning, there were quite a few people who joked with him.

"Wansheng, you're too good at deceiving people!" Diamares came up and said that.

Wan Sheng was stunned for a moment and spread his hands, "I'm just telling the truth." ”

"But those media interpret this as a smokescreen, and they don't believe you at all. You did it on purpose, right? Diamares said with a smile.

"That's none of my business."

Diamares wondered, "Does this really work?" ”

"Whether it's useful or not, I'll know in the afternoon." Wan Sheng replied. Immediately, everyone was ready to gather and go to Liverpool to participate in the game.

Wan Sheng didn't have much hope of being able to deceive Benitez, and releasing smoke bombs to confuse his opponent was just a means. If it works, it can increase the team's win rate, and even if it doesn't work, the team doesn't lose anything. Anyway, he just went to the press conference and told the truth.

After the team was assembled, the whole team went to Liverpool together.

It's still a tough game away from home. Not only is it not the adaptation and discomfort on the pitch, but also the things off the pitch are much more difficult, and the most important point is that the distance is a bit long, it takes more than three hours from Derby County to Liverpool, and if it is a little farther, the team will have to leave a day earlier.

When they arrive at Liverpool, they have to warm up to get back in shape, which is very important for the visitors, and even if there is a pre-match warm-up, it is not easy to get into the groove quickly in the game.

That's why it's hard to play away.

However, Wan Sheng attaches great importance to this away game, he not only wants to win, but also hopes that the team can win by a big score, only in this way can there be one less big game, otherwise the team will face a much more difficult schedule, so he will deal with the game so seriously

At this moment, the whole Liverpool team has started training in the morning.

Head coach Rafael Benitez is sitting in his office, watching a few league videos of the Derby County Christmas clash at Christmas.

The last time he played against Derby County, Benitez felt that Liverpool's defense was very good, and the offense naturally went without saying, it was much stronger than Liverpool, since a few days ago when he was preparing for the game, he kept watching the Derby County game video, and he found that the current Derby County, pay more attention to defense, although the goal is also good, but it is much worse than the first half of the schedule.

This kind of Derby County is not easy to deal with, especially at present, Liverpool's attack is a serious problem, and it is really not easy to break through the opponent's goal, but looking at a few spread newspapers on the table, there are several reports about Derby County, Benitez is still a little relieved.

One newspaper asserted that 'Derby County strikers Rafael van der Vaart, Kluivert and wing-back Ivan Crewe are unavailable for the Liverpool game'

Another newspaper analyzed, "Derby County will have a hard time playing with Liverpool, and their best option is to give up the Carabao Cup!" ”

'Playing Liverpool for the Carabao Cup final is not worth the loss and the best option for Derby County is to concentrate on the league because even if they make it to the final, it will be difficult to beat the winner of Manchester United and Chelsea!'

Another newspaper said, "The injury situation in Derby County is very serious at the moment, and if they want to win against Liverpool, the only option is to rely on defense to defend the goal, so that the victory and defeat are pressed in the second round, and there are still some opportunities." ”

Among these many newspapers, only one said from the perspective of Derby County, "Liverpool's situation is not optimistic, in the dilemma of the unfavorable front, they have to face the pressure of the fourth-line battle, Liverpool cannot give up the Champions League, it is impossible to give up the league, and the League Cup is actually just chicken ribs for them"

The last bias towards Derby County is the biggest headache for Benitez!

Derby County is not doing well, and Liverpool is not doing well!

If you really talk about it, seeing so many injuries in Derby County, Benitez feels that the two teams are really 'difficult brothers', because Liverpool's injury situation is not optimistic, Pongele, Cisse, plus Fowler, who has just signed, all three forwards are unable to play due to injuries, which makes Liverpool even to the point where there is no one available for the striker, and even makes Benitez begin to regret why he sold Michael Owen in the summer, if Owen is still the team, Liverpool will definitely not be in this situation.

In addition, the similarity between the two teams is that they are all 'four-front battles', Liverpool has the Champions League, and Derby County also has the League Cup, both of which cannot be given up lightly.

In other words, in fact, Benitez's situation is not better than Wansheng, or even worse, because they are also very under pressure in the league, so far, Liverpool is only seventh in the league, how difficult is it to get into the top three in the league and try to qualify for next season's Champions League?

What about Derbyshire?

They are second in the league with the same number of points as Chelsea, while Arsenal, who are third in the league, have been pulled down by seven points, so even if Derby County is in crisis and it will not be easy to compete with Chelsea for the league title, it will not be difficult for them to guarantee a top-three in the league and fight for a Champions League place next season.

So Liverpool are much tougher than Derby.

The media are saying that Derby County should face the team's situation and should give up the Carabao Cup, but Benitez is considering whether Liverpool should give up the Carabao Cup.

In the end, Benitez decided to fight for a game, after all, he had already reached the semi-finals, and it would be a pity to give up the League Cup directly.

Fight for one, not two, and the League Cup semi-finals have two rounds of home and away, so Benitez's idea is to decide the winner in one fight!

If you can win the game by a big score, the second leg will naturally become irrelevant, this is the goal of Benitez, I have to say, the two teams that are also in a bad situation, both managers want to go together.

Benitez wants to decide the winner in one game, and Wansheng also wants to win in one game, only in this way can both teams have one less big game, otherwise it will definitely affect the team's form and make the team face more pressure on the schedule.

But it's really hard to say before the game.

As the clock ticked by, the morning soon passed, and by two o'clock in the afternoon, the Derby County buses had pulled into Anfield, and as a large number of fans gathered in the small square in front of the stadium, the pre-game atmosphere had spread. (To be continued......)