"Sometimes I can't help wondering. If Sterling had taken that open-goal chance and equalized, would the result have been different?"
"But what's done is done. Liverpool winning the title is now certain!"
"Congratulations to Liverpool!"
"And congratulations to Lin on adding another trophy!"
The first person Leo Lin went to comfort was Sterling. As he watched Sterling head back into the players' tunnel, he had originally wanted to ask whether Sterling wanted to come to Liverpool's celebration dinner that night, but Leo Lin figured he probably would not have much of an appetite.
Guardiola watched Leo Lin comforting Sterling. He watched his own son-in-law, and all he felt was anger, anger, and more anger.
Nothing could have made Guardiola angrier than this moment.
He even wanted to use his daughter as leverage to force Leo Lin to join Manchester City, but he could not do it.
Klopp appeared precisely in Guardiola's line of sight, blocking his view of Leo Lin.
"My old friend, I've beaten you again."
"What are you looking at Lin for? He's not for sale."
Guardiola did not believe it. He did not believe there was anyone in this world who was truly not for sale.
"Or you can give us Agüero, De Bruyne, David Silva, Kompany, Ederson, and Sané all together in exchange for him. I might consider it."
Guardiola believed it.
He now believed there really were players in this world who were not for sale.
The huge Community Shield trophy was soon in Henderson's hands. The four captains stood front and center, lifting the trophy together.
Liverpool fans could enjoy the feeling of winning another title. Since the end of last season and the World Cup that followed, they had almost forgotten what a championship tasted like.
But every Liverpool player had helped them remember that wonderful feeling again.
Back in the dressing room, the Liverpool players held a simple celebration. After all, the Community Shield was not an especially important final, but it would still become one of Liverpool's many trophies and add to the count.
At the post-match press conference, only Klopp appeared.
The players were all celebrating, so Klopp thought he would surely become the focus under the spotlight, the target of every reporter's questions.
Of course, the reporters really could only ask him questions. The problem was that the way they asked, and what they asked about, were not quite what Klopp had imagined.
"Is Firmino not attending the press conference?"
"Where is Lin? Why didn't Lin come to the press conference?"
"That's strange. Mané scored. He should be here."
Klopp grabbed the bottle of mineral water in front of him and gulped down half of it. Otherwise, he was sure fire would come shooting out of his throat.
Klopp had already sensed the changes in Leo Lin. The heading tactic he had originally created was only the first step. Klopp was still planning further.
Next, he wanted to reshape Leo Lin himself. He wanted to give Leo Lin a better tactical position, a more important tactical role, and allow the most complete version of Leo Lin to be fully displayed on the pitch.
Klopp was determined to become the manager who knew how to use Leo Lin better than anyone else in the world.
And so, Leo Lin's transformation officially began. From changes to his role in midfield, to fully unleashing his individual movement, to reshaping the attacking core in the final third, Klopp spent every day and night thinking about how to release Leo Lin's most important energy.
On February 6, in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16, Lyon came to Anfield.
After losing the first leg, Lyon's hopes of advancing were already slim. And now, in the second leg at Anfield, what they had to face was the instruction manual Klopp had tailor-made for Leo Lin.
This instruction manual had not been written simply to use Leo Lin. It had been created to fully activate him.
The results proved that Klopp's design was extremely effective. In the 16th minute, Leo Lin suddenly appeared inside the penalty area, and his following dribble and shot caught the Lyon goalkeeper completely off guard.
No one had noticed when Leo Lin had appeared there.
In the 26th minute, Leo Lin, who had been involved in the attack just a second earlier, suddenly returned to his own penalty area. Then came a headed clearance.
A foot interception.
A front-on tackle.
A brilliant physical challenge.
Leo Lin showed his power on the defensive end.
A while later, Leo Lin appeared in Lyon's penalty area again. Then came:
A poacher's finish.
A dominant header.
An assist for a teammate.
A while after that, Leo Lin appeared in midfield again. Then came...
A through ball.
A wide supporting run.
Playmaking and control.
Interceptions and blocks.
When the ninety minutes ended, Liverpool eliminated Lyon 6-0. While securing a huge victory, Leo Lin delivered a top-class performance with two goals and two assists, single-handedly creating four goals.
Klopp's transformation was beginning to take shape. On February 9, in the FA Cup fourth round against Brighton, Leo Lin scored twice in the first half before being substituted off to rest.
Liverpool ultimately eliminated Brighton 5-2 and advanced to the fifth round of the FA Cup. They had taken two key victories in a row, and in the FA Cup fourth round, Klopp had also given most of his main players a chance to rest so they could face Ajax at full strength.
With Leo Lin's transformation and upgrade complete, he had completely become another Gullit on the pitch. Some fans even called him the enlarged version of Gullit, the stronger version of Gullit, the Gullit 1.5T Dark Purple-Gold Edition, and so on.
[Do you even need to watch when Lin is playing? Close your eyes, open them, and there's a goal. Close your eyes and open them again, and there's another one!]
[I hereby declare that no one in the world understands how to use Lin better than Klopp.]
[I never saw the ancient legend Gullit play, but watching Gullit 1.5T Dark Purple-Gold Edition on the pitch is pure joy!]
At first, Gullit himself had not been particularly bothered by comments like stronger version or upgraded version.
But once the so-called Gullit 1.5T Dark Purple-Gold Edition appeared, Gullit broke. In UEFA's official commentary studio, Gullit completely broke down.
"What does 1.5T Dark Purple-Gold Edition mean?"
"I'm asking you to translate it for me!"
"What!"
"The hell does!"
"1.5T!"
"Dark Purple-Gold Edition!"
"Mean!"
Gullit grabbed Scholes with his left hand and Ashley Cole with his right, turning into a fire-breathing beast.
"Say it!"
"I, Gullit, was wise and glorious my whole life! I never thought I would end up like this one day!"
"No!"
"I refuse to accept this!"
Scholes broke free from Gullit's powerful right hand and tried hard to restore order to the broadcast. He still had to introduce the upcoming first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals for the fans.
Liverpool would face Ajax, another opponent that had escaped the round of 16.
No one had expected Ajax to reach the Champions League quarterfinals.
"After the two-legged ties, all eight Champions League quarterfinalists have now been confirmed!"
"Manchester United will face Barcelona in the quarterfinals, Liverpool will face Ajax, Juventus will face Roma, and Tottenham will face Bayern!"
"Manchester United and Liverpool are still standing, while Tottenham have also reached the quarterfinals with an excellent performance!"
"However, all three Premier League teams have drawn extremely strong opponents in this round of the quarterfinals!"
Ashley Cole raised an objection.
"Manchester United and Tottenham's opponents really are strong, but aren't Liverpool playing Ajax?"
Gullit struck again without any warning and grabbed Ashley Cole.
As a Dutch legend, he had sensed Ashley Cole's doubt toward Ajax, a Dutch club.
"Do you understand anything at all?"
"This Ajax is not just any Ajax!"
"This is the Ajax from Virgil's poetry!"
...
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