"Jess, give me some mashed potatoes, a small steak, and two eggs. And they've got to be the really delicious kind."
At noon on April 4th, Leo Lin finished training and headed straight to the cafeteria, ready for a proper meal.
"Where am I supposed to find that many 'really delicious' eggs?" Chef Jess waved the ladle in his hand.
"And you only get one today. Firmino just raided the kitchen and stole three eggs. There's only one boiled egg left."
Leo Lin froze in shock.
"What?!"
"Stealing my eggs is like cutting off my limbs!"
"You little thief Firmino—prepare to die!!!"
At the second table on the left side of the cafeteria, Firmino was carefully thinking about how to stuff all three eggs into his mouth at once.
He was worried that if he ate them one by one, Leo Lin might snatch the remaining eggs away while he was chewing. The safest option was clearly to swallow all three in one go.
Across from him, Klopp quietly took advantage of Firmino's distraction, slipped one egg away, and casually placed it onto Leo Lin's plate.
Mané, who had seen everything clearly, smiled and shook his head.
"Klopp, you still spoil him so much."
"Firmino, don't forget the club's rule about eating smaller meals more frequently. Three eggs in one sitting—your cholesterol won't handle it."
Klopp chuckled, patted Firmino on the shoulder, and then walked away.
The players were currently preparing for the upcoming FA Cup quarterfinal. If they won, Liverpool would advance to the semifinals and continue their push for the FA Cup title.
Because the team had just gone through several extremely intense matches, the players' stamina had been heavily drained.
Klopp had no intention of starting the main lineup in this quarterfinal.
Krawietz, however, felt this decision was risky.
"Boss, we've already made it to the quarterfinals. If we lose with a rotated squad, the consequences could be serious."
"Losing a title opportunity at this stage could affect the players' morale."
Klopp had considered that possibility.
But what worried him more was the players' physical condition—especially the young Leo Lin, whose muscle fatigue levels had been consistently high.
Overwork a good horse when it's young, and it becomes a donkey.
Overwork a donkey when it's young, and it becomes a mule.
That was an eternal truth.
So Klopp slapped the table and made his final decision.
Liverpool would field a rotated lineup.
...
April 5th. The weather was bright and sunny.
At Selhurst Park, warm sunlight shone down on the scoreboard as the broadcast showed the 11th minute of the match.
Neither side had scored.
The camera cut to a close-up of Liverpool's bench.
It was a luxurious lineup of substitutes—players sitting in two rows watching the match unfold.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what you're seeing right now is Liverpool's incredibly strong bench for this match."
"Salah, Firmino, Leo Lin, Henderson, Arnold, Robertson—they're all sitting on the bench!"
"The FA Cup quarterfinal between Liverpool and Crystal Palace is underway. The winner will advance to the FA Cup semifinals!"
"Crystal Palace have relied on physical battles and defensive resilience to reach this stage."
"They want to create a miracle—but first they must get past Liverpool!"
16th minute!
"Another midfield collision! McArthur goes in for the challenge, Wijnaldum controls the ball—but Cabaye is right behind him!"
"He knocks him down!"
"The referee blows for a foul. Cabaye receives a verbal warning."
"Liverpool are trying to penetrate through the middle, but Crystal Palace are using their physical advantage to disrupt Liverpool's attacking patterns. Their defensive strategy has been quite effective."
As Wijnaldum went down, the broadcast camera immediately cut to Leo Lin on the bench.
He was chewing gum, looking completely relaxed.
Live chat comments began flying across the screen.
"Cabaye only dares to jump around because Lin isn't on the pitch."
"After fighting so many battles, Leo Lin deserves a little rest!"
"Is Liverpool planning to give up on the FA Cup by rotating this heavily?"
"Don't talk nonsense. For a team competing for multiple trophies, rotation players are extremely important. We should have confidence in Liverpool's depth."
For teams that want to compete across multiple competitions, relying on just one lineup will never win championships.
Instead, it often leads to a total collapse across all fronts, followed by a wave of injuries.
Many smaller clubs suddenly explode in form and qualify for European competitions, only to completely collapse the following season for exactly this reason.
They simply don't have enough players to handle so many matches.
If you keep using the same lineup for too long, players become increasingly exhausted. Their form drops, and sometimes they can't even perform at their normal level.
All of that is entirely possible.
Football has always been a sport that requires great intelligence.
You must plan everything carefully.
On the pitch, Liverpool's main attacking force came from Milner and Lallana, along with Chamberlain on the wing.
Wijnaldum controlled the rhythm, helping the team maintain possession.
Milner carried the ball forward and frequently combined with Chamberlain on the flank, producing several beautiful passing sequences.
At first, Crystal Palace managed to block Liverpool with physical challenges.
But gradually, Chamberlain began to explode with energy.
He and his teammates repeatedly produced smooth, coordinated attacks, slowly searching for opportunities.
"Chamberlain is actually a player with tremendous potential."
"He was once listed among the top ten most promising young talents in the world alongside Pogba."
40th minute!
"Wijnaldum with a roulette past Luka! Still cutting inside!"
"A diagonal pass to the left! Chamberlain reaches the byline!"
"Pull-back pass! Milner with the chance!"
"He cuts inside, turns—curling shot!"
"Beautiful! That's in!"
"Milner and Chamberlain combine brilliantly! A curling finish into the net gives Liverpool the lead!"
After scoring, Liverpool began to slow the tempo and control the game.
In the 60th minute of the second half, Wijnaldum once again took advantage of a corner kick opportunity, heading the ball into the net to make it 2–0!
Two goals behind, Crystal Palace had no choice but to push forward.
Veteran manager Hodgson made a substitution.
"Cheikhou Kouyaté is coming on. Palace are clearly trying to add more power to their midfield as they push forward in attack!"
Despite the signal for a full attacking push, there was no loud cheering from the Crystal Palace home crowd.
Because beside Kouyaté on the touchline, Klopp had his arm around someone, clearly giving tactical instructions.
Then he patted the player on the backside and sent him onto the pitch.
Kouyaté turned his head and saw a gentle-looking young man smiling at him with a completely innocent expression.
The Crystal Palace fans watching the livestream instantly fell into despair.
"Two goals up and you still bring on Lin? That's just unfair!"
"After fighting desperately for 60 minutes… the opponent sends on a human tank…"
"Kouyaté probably wishes he could go back to the bench right now. Facing Leo Lin is way worse than sitting off the field!"
...
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