February 1st.
When Pochettino announced his squad at the pre-match press conference, the media who were watching the fun immediately expressed their disappointment with boos.
Without Kane, Eriksen, Rose, Walker and Lowry, the Tottenham head coach actually sent out more than half of the youth training players in the second round of the game!
These players are even two years younger than Li Polo!
"You are only two goals behind, why are you giving up?"
"Think about Super Deportivo La Coruna, think about Liverpool in Istanbul, aren't you lacking in sportsmanship by doing this?"
"You are a Premier League team, there is no need to give in to a League Two team, right?"
"How dare you laugh at Liverpool before if you did this?"
…
Facing the waves of questions and ridicule from reporters on the scene, Pochettino had no reaction:
"I think a team's energy is limited after all. We need to strike a balance between the league and the cup, and make some trade-offs when necessary. Under the current circumstances, I hope the team can focus on the Premier League. As long as we can qualify for the European war in the end, today's sacrifice will be worth it."
What he said is not without reason. After all, even if they can reverse the situation tomorrow, they will still face Liverpool or Chelsea in the final, and these two teams have been Tottenham's nemesis in this year's league!
They were slaughtered by Chelsea with 3 goals away from home, but after returning home, they saved a little face with the home advantage and Kane's explosive performance, winning 5-3.
Against the weaker Liverpool, Tottenham was even worse than against Chelsea, losing 2:3 away from home. It was even worse when they returned to their home court, losing 0:3!
Pochettino is not sure of winning against these two teams.
Be more confident, it’s the same even if you replace “must win” with “draw”!
He is almost psychologically traumatized by these two teams!
Instead of hoping to be defeated by the Reds or Blues in the final, it would be better to go home directly in the semi-finals, at least that way you won’t be too sad.
After all, in the field of sports, the runner-up is always the most unsuccessful one...
With this mentality in mind, on the evening of February 2, the Tottenham Hotspur youth team visited the King's Meadow very politely.
The Wimbledon team, which was originally full of fighting spirit, suddenly lost its enthusiasm after seeing this group of young guys. Li Polo even gave up his pre-match "trash talk" provocation and played with his opponents for 90 minutes in an orderly manner.
The game was very dull at one point.
Although the opponent was only a youth team, the cautious Adre still decided to play comprehensive defense. In order to do his best in defense, he did not even send Akinfenwa to play, but instead arranged Dubis, who was good at counterattack, in front.
But until he was substituted in the 75th minute, Dubis didn't get any chance to counterattack. Instead, Aziz, who replaced him, stole the ball from Tottenham's young defender three minutes later and then scored directly against the substitute goalkeeper...
"Drip, drip, drip~~"
When the referee blew the whistle to end the game, the cheers from the King's Lawn players were not as loud as expected.
Including Adre, everyone's attention was no longer on this decisive duel, but on another powerful dialogue dozens of kilometers away:
Chelsea face Liverpool at home!
Cox glanced at the tablet in his hand and told everyone helplessly:
"They're tied, it's going to overtime soon!"
Adre nodded and announced to the players who had just left the court:
"It's still early, everyone return to the video room immediately, we need to continue watching the live broadcast!"
The players, who had been playing defensive tactics for 90 minutes, were already somewhat unhappy. After hearing his instructions, they began to complain:
"Tsk~ This is exploitation of labor!"
"Invasion of my personal time!"
"We are going to report you by real name to the players' union!"
Adley glared:
"This is the best opportunity to study the final opponents in advance. If someone is unwilling, I can only exclude him from the final list!"
The players immediately surrounded him and ran to the video room:
"Come on, come on, whoever doesn't look at me is a grandson!"
“We love watching live broadcasts the most!”
“Free competition, so cool!”
…
Entering the video room, overtime had already started for three minutes.
In the picture, Liverpool still played with three central defenders. Except for Sterling replacing Lambert as the forward and Moreno replacing Manquillo, their other nine starting players were exactly the same as when they played against Wimbledon. I don't know how superstitious Rogers is about this style of play...
However, after watching the game for half a minute, Cox told the players that Liverpool had used up two substitutions. Glen Johnson replaced Sakho, who made frequent mistakes, while Balotelli replaced the ineffective Markovic.
When Li Polo heard about the second substitution, he basically concluded:
"Liverpool are finished."
At least Markovic still has the determination and courage to work alone, but the current Balotelli... is really useless!
As soon as Li Polo finished speaking, Hazard dribbled past two players and was brought down by Skrtel, giving Chelsea a free kick in a good position in the frontcourt.
Winger William took a free kick and defender Ivanovic scored with a header!
The score that had been maintained for 94 minutes was finally changed to 1:0!
Mourinho cheered on the sidelines, and the Stamford Bridge stadium sang praises for their hero!
When the game resumed, all Chelsea players retreated and used Mourinho's best bus tactics!
Liverpool, who were forced into a desperate situation, replaced Moreno with Lambert at the last moment, placing their last hope on the 33-year-old veteran striker!
Then Mourinho slapped his thigh and replaced him with his ace killer - "Magic Beast" Drogba!
Whether it's bench depth or substitution adjustments, you, Rogers, are far behind!
After all... when Mourinho first took over the Stamford Bridge, Rodgers was just an ordinary coach in Chelsea's youth training camp!
If we talk about seniority, you should at least call Magic Bird "Master"!
"The situation is set, Rogers is no match for Mourinho."
Adley shook his head:
"The final is just one month away and our opponent... is Chelsea, the biggest favorite to win the Premier League title this season."
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became quiet.
The players who had been pointing fingers at the game just now all shut their mouths at the same time. Some lowered their eyes, while others tried their best to remain calm.
Adre took in their reactions and was not surprised at all.
Mourinho's Chelsea is almost invincible in the Premier League this season. As of the 23rd round of the league, they have only lost to two teams!
One was a 3:5 loss to Tottenham away from home, and the other was a 1:2 loss to Newcastle United away from home!
You know, even Wimbledon, which is extremely dominant in the English League Two, has lost 4 games. You can imagine how stable the Blues led by the Magic Bird are!
"Keep your heads up, guys!"
Akinfenwa clapped his hands:
"Everyone thinks we are the dark horse, why can't we stay dark all the time?"
Adley was very satisfied with his attitude:
"Yes, we are the Crazy Gang!"
Third captain Phillips, former captain Moore, and Arsenal youth player Shea also encouraged their teammates:
"What's so scary about Chelsea?"
"Tottenham Hotspur beat them 3:5, and we just beat Tottenham Hotspur 3:0!"
Pochettino, who was on his way home, couldn't help but sneeze.
[Who is it? Why are you saying bad things about me behind my back? ]