The match was over.
Inside Blue Lock, after watching the game, Tendou's peers all consciously left the lounge and went to the training ground for extra practice.
This match had a huge impact on them.
They also longed to one day conquer the world on a globally watched stage.
Prince was happy, but also heavy-hearted.
The stronger Liverpool became, the greater the threat to his own team.
He almost regretted signing that stupid contract. Luckily, the Neo Egoist League was ending soon, and he would have time to get back to play in the match against Liverpool!
...
"If I were still managing Liverpool, TJ would be in my starting lineup for every single match," Bob Paisley posted online after the match, his words filled with praise for Tendou.
"TJ-Magic! A goal and an assist in consecutive matches! This is definitely the most incredible young player I have ever seen," said Bruno Lage.
"I saw some people mocking how long it would take for TJ to adapt to the intensity of the Premier League. Did he bet on one or two years? It seems now he was dead wrong. The question now is, how long will it take for the Premier League to adapt to TJ!" - Kenny Dalglish.
"His football is full of creativity. Every pass he makes is like magic. I think I've fallen in love with TJ-Magic!" - John Barnes.
The Liverpool legends followed one after another.
Many old legends hadn't even posted in a long time, but they all emerged after this Double Red Derby.
This was Liverpool's star-making machine in action.
They had already begun to build Tendou into one of their signature brands.
They held 50% of Tendou's image rights; providing convenience for Tendou was also providing convenience for themselves.
...
Tendou was once again selected as the man of the match.
But he did not attend the post-match press conference, because Riko had also come to watch the game today, together with Salah's wife, Magi.
However, he still heard from his teammates about how ten Hag had "unleashed his divine might" at the post-match press conference.
"This is clearly not the real score of this match."
"Lukaku made a mistake in the first half that he would never normally make. He shouldn't have miscued that ball. There were no defenders around him at that time. If he had hit it cleanly, it would have been a goal."
"In that case, Manchester United would have been leading 1:0, and the situation would have been completely different. We wouldn't have had to risk attacking and get caught on the counter by Liverpool."
"Also, those 6 yellow cards also caused us a lot of trouble. Our players couldn't make any big moves in the latter stages..."
He rambled on and on.
Under the dumbfounded gazes of the reporters, ten Hag managed to spin a 4:0 scoreline into a 3:2 Manchester United victory.
Before he crossed over, Tendou had heard that ten Hag's ability to reverse the scoreline in press conferences was extremely strong.
But hearing it for himself, he was still jaw-droppingly amazed.
The key was that some Manchester United fans, after hearing it, actually thought it made sense and started blaming Lukaku for not hitting that shot, saying that they would have won otherwise.
The Liverpool fans' noses were almost bent out of shape with anger.
You were thrashed 4:0, how is it that after all this talk, we're the ones who lost the game?
The Premier League clearly had not yet adapted to ten Hag's intensity.
...
The next day, highlights of the Liverpool vs. Manchester United match were broadcast on TV stations all over England.
Especially the "Tsubame Gaeshi" goal that Tendou scored, which was cut into videos and analyzed frame by frame by countless people.
They analyzed from multiple angles how Tendou had kicked this ball.
They finally came to a conclusion.
The prerequisite for kicking this ball is that it must be on a rainy day. The pitch needs a certain amount of surface water to reduce the rough friction.
And the water accumulation cannot be too severe, because the ball needs to drop into the six-yard box and then roll into the net, which still requires the use of the turf's friction.
The best condition is 7 hours after the rain has stopped, when the friction of the grass is most suitable.
Therefore, in a match on a sunny day or a rainy day, TJ could not have scored that stunning goal.
Tendou naturally saw this as well.
He tried it out and found that it was true.
When the turf is not wet and the friction is too strong, the bounce height of the ball after landing will be much higher. Although it's not as completely useless as the experts' analysis suggested, a ball kicked under dry turf conditions has a much higher probability of being saved by the goalkeeper.
This placed a usage restriction on his Tsubame Gaeshi.
Of course, high turf friction has its own uses.
"Xherdan, shall we have a free-kick competition?"
...
Xherdan Shaqiri was Liverpool's first-choice free-kick taker this season.
Although he was not a starting player, as long as he was on the field, he had priority.
It goes without saying what Tendou wanted to do.
He wanted to earn the right to be the free-kick taker.
Of course, that's what he was thinking in his heart. What he said out loud was that he was asking for lessons.
Shaqiri was also very happy to help this new player.
He was now in the twilight of his career, no longer the Swiss Footballer of the Year he once was.
In 2012, he joined the Bundesliga giants Bayern and won the quintuple with the team.
In 2015, he went to Serie A to join Inter Milan. During the peak of his career, he played for nothing but giant clubs.
...
However, his performance at Inter did not satisfy the club, so he was sold to Stoke City for 12 million.
In 2018, due to his excellent performance in the World Cup, Liverpool signed him, but now there was clearly no place for him at the club.
Keïta, Fabinho, Arnold, Henderson, and now Tendou—he wouldn't get much playing time.
"Of course."
Shaqiri was happy to teach Tendou free kicks.
He felt that Tendou would definitely become a big star in the future. Helping him now would only be beneficial.
In the future, he could even tell people, "I was the one who taught TJ how to take free kicks."
He was already prepared to guide Tendou.
But after the competition started, he was dumbfounded.
He found that this little kid didn't need his guidance at all. His "elevator ball" (Giant Bear Counter) was probably no worse than peak Ronaldo's.
What the hell was he supposed to teach him?
Klopp and the Liverpool players also noticed the commotion and watched in a daze as Tendou sent the ball around the wall and into the net again and again.
"We should probably arrange some set-piece tactics," Krawietz suggested in Klopp's ear.
The latter nodded.
Liverpool was now at the top of the Premier League!
They would definitely encounter weaker teams that would park the bus against them!
At that time, set pieces would be the best way to break the deadlock.
"Arrange a small in-team free-kick game. I'll buy pizza for the winner," Klopp ordered, then turned and walked into his office.
...
Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "RoseWhisky"