After returning from Wales, Li Tiancheng bid farewell to his parents and returned to China. Then he followed Liverpool to the United States to participate in the Champions Tour.
Although the name is deceiving, and all parties participating in this competition are also paid a lot of money, this is really just a friendly match for military training, and there is no limit on the number of substitutions. Otherwise, no one would be willing to go to the United States at this time just for money.
Liverpool won a big victory in the first game.
Liverpool 6:1 Celtic.
This result made Li Tiancheng relax a lot.
Of course, it's not just because of this result. The warm-up matches are a stage for running-in tactics and checking the players' condition. No one pays attention to the result of the game.
Li Tiancheng was happy that he completely controlled, uh, the second half of the game.
Liverpool took a two-goal lead in the first half with goals from Riise and Owen.
At the beginning of the second half, Li Tiancheng got a chance to play.
Li Tiancheng replaced Kewell and stood on the left.
Not long after the opening, when Li Tiancheng got the ball for the first time, he cut directly inside to the center, walked along the outside of the penalty area towards the center, and passed it to Cisse. After deceiving the opponent's defender, he shot directly, and the football went straight into the near lower corner!
This goal earned Li Tiancheng more playing time.
In the 62nd minute, after Cisse hit the goal post with a through ball from Pangler, he took the ball in front of the arc and stuffed it into the penalty area. Li Tiancheng cut in from the left wing to catch the ball and knocked the ball back to the goal. Cisse arrived and scored in one stroke.
4:0!
In the 69th minute, Li Tiancheng made a long pass into the penalty area. The opponent's defender made a mistake and pushed the ball in front of Henkoz. Henkoz volleyed and the ball hit the dead center and hit the net.
5:0!
In the 72nd minute, Celtic won a penalty kick, which was converted by Craig Beattie.
5:1!
In the 76th minute, Li Tiancheng cut inside again, attracting many defensive players to block him. Li Tiancheng pushed the ball through the gap to Cisse. Cisse passed the central defender and hit the target before the goalkeeper fell to the ground.
6:1!
In the 80th minute, Li Tiancheng made another successful through pass, but unfortunately Cisse's shot hit the post.
Before the end, Li Tiancheng took advantage of the Celtic defense's overpressure and made a long pass into the penalty area. It was Cisse again, and his shot was blocked by the goalkeeper again!
After Li Tiancheng came on the scene, he dominated Liverpool's offense. More importantly, the football Li Tiancheng played was in line with Benitez's football aesthetics.
When the team switched from defense to offense, Li Tiancheng performed efficiently and professionally. The reward given by Benitez was that he became the player with the most playing time in Liverpool.
You know, Irving only played 45 minutes in the first half.
Others were just watching the game come on and off, and 30 minutes ago was enough.
Even if it was just a warm-up match, Li Tiancheng's performance impressed Benitez.
Li Tiancheng is certainly happy that he is one step closer to his primary goal of establishing a firm foothold in the team.
Before the second game even started, Spanish defender Josemi arrived in the United States after a long journey to join the team.
This is part of Benitez's technical transformation of Liverpool. He hopes to enhance Liverpool's technical content by introducing Spanish players with better skills.
Josemi's arrival did not cause much excitement, but the gossip circulating within the team made everyone a little confused.
It is said that the club plans to offer Irving a contract extension with a weekly salary of 100,000 yuan!
If both parties reach an agreement, it will directly be the highest salary in the Premier League. Even Abramovich, who is stupid and rich, has not offered such a high salary to his players!
It seems that Irving's transfer drama is coming to an end.
Everyone is tacitly aware of this, and of course many people are wondering whether their salaries can be increased accordingly.
After all, they are all contributing to the club. Even if Irving is the club's top player, it is too unreasonable for his salary to be three times higher than other main players.
In a strange atmosphere, Liverpool ushered in their second warm-up match opponent, the new Champions League champion Porto.
Liverpool drew 1:1 with their opponent this time.
In this game, Liverpool's Owen and Cisse partnered for the first time. Benitez tried to find out who is Owen's best partner through the game.
Two young players, Whitbread and Warnock, appeared on the back line, which was a test of their reserve strength.
Gerrard also made his first start since the European Cup.
Porto has lost its meritorious coach Mourinho and a large number of key players. The most talented David should be Quaresma who returned from Barcelona.
In the first half, both sides were playing aggressive football. Unfortunately, each side hit the goal frame once.
0:0, both sides ended goalless.
In the second half, Benitez replaced Baros, Kewell, Pongler and others, while Gerrard, Owen and Cisse were all replaced.
The two sides continued to maintain an offensive posture, but there were not many opportunities in front of the goal.
However, Liverpool used their height advantage to pose a threat through free kicks.
In each of the three free kicks, Liverpool successfully secured the first goal, and the attack was just a hair’s breadth away.
Benitez shook his head when he saw it on the sidelines. In such an offensive situation, it is common for the two sides to switch offense and defense. Unfortunately, these guys on the field did very poorly and could not play the usual training content at all.
It wasn't until the 80th minute that Li Tiancheng was substituted again, this time playing as a central midfielder for Biscayne.
The central midfielder is the central midfielder.
I originally thought I would have to sit on the bench for the entire game, but now that I have the opportunity to play, it doesn't matter where I am.
Li Tiancheng soon felt the difficulty!
The central midfielder has to shoulder many more defensive tasks than the wide midfielder.
Li Tiancheng's defense relies more on anticipating blocking positions, and playing as a full midfielder is enough.
But in the central midfielder position, there are a lot of physical challenges. Although Porto players are not known for their physical strength, it is still difficult for Li Tiancheng to cope with it.
In the 85th minute, Li Tiancheng had no choice but to pull down his opponent.
Porto took a free kick in the frontcourt, and Liverpool missed the ball in the middle. Jorge Costa got the ball from the back and passed it low to the middle. Ricardo Costa missed the ball. Alberto, who was surrounded by the back post, was 4 meters away from the goal with his right foot.
Push the empty door.
0:1.
Liverpool fell behind their opponents.
Li Tiancheng stared at his opponents who were cheering to celebrate the goal and bit his lip.
"Relax, kid." Carragher patted Li Tiancheng's arm: "It's common to give free kicks to opponents. The responsibility for this ball is not yours, it's us who were exposed at the back."
Li Tiancheng nodded perfunctorily, maybe, but I couldn't see the loophole in the latter point in advance!
After that, Porto tried to focus on Li Tiancheng.
With Haman's help, Li Tiancheng finally survived these few minutes.
Seeing that the game was about to end, Li Tiancheng rushed directly into the penalty area, pedaled his bicycle continuously in the penalty area, and got a shooting space.
Li Tiancheng, who was about to shoot, was knocked to the ground.
Penalty kick!
Porto's goal scorer Alberto knocked down Li Tiancheng and was awarded a penalty kick.
Hamann made a free throw.
1:1.
Liverpool equalized the score at the last moment.
Li Tiancheng felt that he was beginning to calm down.
At the end of the game, Carragher put his arm around Li Tiancheng's shoulders: "Good boy, if you suffer a loss, you have to get it back. I like this character!"
Li Tiancheng smiled and said nothing more.
…
After this game, several players left the United States - they were sold.
Liverpool's first team has been reduced to twenty players, which is in line with Benitez's strategic thinking. He made it clear that he needs a main framework of about fifteen people, and then adds a few more people to tinker around the main framework.
However, the news that midfielder Smicer underwent surgery after the European Cup and will be out for 6 months still caught him off guard.
This is the main right midfielder in his mind, and now it is obviously impossible to count on him.
There is currently no suitable candidate for the right midfield position.
The left midfielder can also have Kewell as a guest player, or Riise can be in a good position.
But there is really no one available for the right midfielder right now.
Murphy?
The technical features really do not meet the requirements, and he has been notified that he can leave.
Li Tiancheng can play, but he is still too young and needs to take advantage of opportunities such as the League Cup to get some training. Now he is at best a substitute.
Warnock was born as a right midfielder, but he looks worse than Li Tiancheng.
It is necessary to bring in a main force who is in his prime.
Benitez thought about it for a long time and applied to the club to buy Chelsea's Duff. Duff did not have a happy life under Ranieri, so he should have a chance to get it.
Unfortunately, the club replied that they had no money.
If you want to buy people, of course you can.
You can raise transfer fees by selling players you don't like.
So Benitez was selling people while trying to counter-offer with Chelsea.
"Madman" Mourinho rejected Benitez's offer and hung up the phone directly.
Haha, Duff’s technical characteristics are just in line with my requirements. Moreover, looking at how fussy you are, can you afford the price that Chelsea can take notice of?
As a result, Benitez's Spanish strategy became possible.
Benitez's original attempt to introduce many Spanish players was quite criticized.
Are you trying to create a clique or are you discriminating against us English people?
Well now, it’s not that I’m discriminating against the technical level of the English. It’s just that they are too expensive and can’t afford it.
Benitez directly sent an application to Barcelona. Is it possible to introduce or rent your midfielder Luis Garcia?
Barcelona:…
Scream, you fell into my hands so quickly.
The debt for kidnapping our future star has not yet been settled. Now let’s settle the score together.
If you want Garcia, you can. Anyway, he is just a substitute here. Let's replace him with Milan Baros. Substitute for substitute, this is fair.
Benítez almost cursed when he received Barcelona's reply, but at least he was a bit polite, so he held it in and kept his calm and wise persona.
Are you entertaining me?
Yes, now it seems that Baros is only a third striker in my hands, but he has always been the top scorer in the European Cup, and now is the time to be very popular.
Trade him for Garcia?
Is there a mental retardation etched on my forehead?
So, the matter was put on hold for the time being.
…
BJ time, August 4th, New York Giants Stadium.
Liverpool ended their US tour with a 3:1 victory over Roma.
Li Tiancheng played in the second half of this game again, playing the entire second half at the right midfielder position, and assisted Owen twice to score successfully.
Although Irving was named the best player of the game, Li Tiancheng's performance was noticed by Benitez.
Benitez, who was repeatedly stimulated, finally had some comfort. It seemed that it was worthwhile to have a bad relationship with Barcelona. Li Tiancheng is a real genius, and he deserves the name of special genius.
Just how to deal with the difficulties at hand?
Until he returned to Liverpool from the United States, Benitez didn't think of any good solution.
There is no way, everything that is attractive to the eye is expensive and cannot be bought.
Under normal circumstances, Garcia is the only one who can afford it and is pretty good.
It used to be a simple matter, but now Barcelona is so angry, what should I do?
You still have to use the magic weapon that everyone is using.