[Octopus perspective] 35-year-old England defender David Lavin has made four appearances for Liverpool's first team and is now the captain of the 8th tier team Maritime United, an amateur team that is undergoing an extraordinary FA Cup journey.
In the second round of the FA Cup on the evening of November 29, Beijing time, The Maritime United from England's 8th division , the North West Division A of the Northern Premier League - scored a goal in the last minute of extra time to beat The 6th division team Havent Water Roadville 1-0 to advance to the third round.
Counting the qualifying rounds, this is already the seventh game that the Maritime United has won in the FA Cup this season, including the elimination of League Two side Cochester United through penalties in the first round, and the League Two team is already all professional.
Another Tier 8 team, Kenway Island, has yet to start with Tier 5 side Boller Hamwood, and the other Tier 8 and lower teams have been eliminated in qualifying, so Maritime United are temporarily the lowest league team in Round 3.
The Maritime United, based in the Merseyside waterfront town of Crosby, both Merseyside and Everton congratulated each other on Twitter after they advanced to Round 3.
The Shipping Co-Official tweeted congratulations to Liverpool and Everton
From Round 3 onwards, both Premier League and Championship teams will join the fight. The draw will take place at 3:10 a.m. Beijing time on December 1, and in theory, Shipping Wing Captain Lavin has the opportunity to lead the team into Anfield.
In an interview, LaVine said: "It's like stepping back in time, isn't it? To be honest, I thought I was like this, but suddenly everyone was willing to come and talk to me, to listen to my story, to find out what had happened in my career.
"It's amazing, it makes me feel worthy! Imagine a road trip to Anfield or Old Trafford, how wonderful it would be! I never thought football would make me feel like that again, and it was a pleasure to go home after winning. We're ready, let me put it this way, win or lose, we're going to celebrate. ”
LaVine joined Maritime United in September after spending the previous two seasons playing for Tier 7 side Warrington. Of course, LaVine has not been playing in amateur leagues, and he has made more than 400 professional appearances in liverpool, Tranmill, Shrewsbury, Carlisle United, Inverness and other teams.
Lavin of the Inverness period
Lavin's hometown of Birkenhead, across the river from Liverpool, joined the Reds' academy at the age of 14. Although he is now a centre-back, he played as a right-back early in his career and was named to the England Youth Team, where his teammates included Wayne Looney and Milner.
"Once I went to the Netherlands to play a game and Milner was a roommate." Lavin recalled. It was during that trip that he "did everything in his power" to limit the performance of a Portuguese winger named Cristiano Ronaldo.
Like many of today's youngsters, LaVine has only made a handful of appearances at Liverpool, most of which have focused on domestic cups, while in the more important leagues and European competitions he has never been trusted.
Under Benitez, Only one of Lavin's four Reds first-team appearances has occurred in the Premier League, which makes him inevitably complain, because if he can get more playing time, maybe his life will change:
"Of course I have the idea that, looking at a club like Ajax, Feyenoord, in order to develop a young player, they will give him twenty or thirty games to see if his ability is up to the level that he wants, how can you judge the level of a player after two or three games?"
Neil Mailer (22 first-team appearances), John Wales (10), Darren Porter (17) and Zach Whitebride (7) who grew up with LaVine in the Liverpool Academy eventually failed to gain a foothold in the Reds and had to go elsewhere to continue their football dreams.
Lavine's Liverpool debut took place in the quarter-finals of the 2004–05 League Cup against Tottenham, which featured Jermaine Defoe, Michael Carrick, Ledley King, Robbie Keane and Guoan veteran Frederick Canute, who were eliminated by penalties.
Recalling the match, LaVine said: "I still have a picture in my head shoveling Defoe, I was nervous before the game, I drove to the playing field, looked at the stadium and thought 'TMD, this really happened!'" 'It took me 15 or 20 minutes to get used to the pace of the game, but I feel like I gained confidence.
"I loved everything in that game, the shouts, the lights on the pitch, the 40,000 fans, which I had never felt before, and I wanted the game to never stop."
LaVine played defoe in his career debut
LaVine's second appearance came in the third round of the FA Cup that same season, when Liverpool lost 1-0 to Burnley. Commenting on the game, Lavin said: "Benitez was angry and he said to us, 'You young people, this is your last appearance. ’”
However, Benitez did not "keep his promises" and a few days later he made LaVine his league debut, replacing Hypea with him against Southampton.
Six weeks later, liverpool played Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League, with Lavine on the bench at the highest level of club competition for the first time, but it was the experience of that night that made him start to lose hope for his future at Anfield.
"We were 3-0 and 6-1 on aggregate. I thought to myself, if I could play, it would be now. Wales came on and then Rafa sent Antonio Núñez up as a right-back, the worst player I've ever seen at this level, and he's still a winger, and that's when I realized I wasn't going to play.
"At that time, I was in front of Finnan and Josemi, and even the latter did not get many chances. I felt like there was a time when I wasn't far from playing and reserve coach Alec Miller kept recommending me, but I wasn't quite sure either. At the time I thought I had done my best, but looking back now, I realize that I can actually do more. ”
Lavin had no problem with Benitez, who he considered the current Dalian manager to be "an outstanding coach", but he recounted a conversation between the two, which he considered to be a highlight of their relationship: "I was ready to renew my contract with the club, but no one came to talk to me about it for a week or two, and I wanted to know how it was going, so I went and knocked on his door and said to him, 'Rafa, how's the contract', and he simply said, 'Hurry up and sign it, shut your mouth!'" Just these few words, nothing else was said!
"He should have thought I was going to talk to him about a raise, and maybe his English level would only allow him to speak so much, but I'll never forget that scene." Sign shut up! Honestly, I did! ”
LaVine made another appearance for Liverpool in the League Cup against Crystal Palace and went on loan to Tranmill. At the end of the 2005-06 season, he decided to say goodbye to Anfield: "My dad didn't understand me at the time, but it wasn't a tough decision for me, I just wanted to play more.
"At that time I was still able to be selected for the England youth team, and my teammates included Richard Chaplo, Vin Lautledge, Lee Crawford and so on, they had all played forty or fifty games, but I only played three or four games. They are becoming experienced professionals and I feel like I'm behind. Although I have a year left on my contract, I know I'm going to have to leave if I want to continue my career and I can't stay in live in the Liverpool reserve for the rest of my life. ”
In his four years at Carlisle United, Lavin had a highlight moment, but a hip injury nearly led him to retire at the age of 24. He also played a season in Shrewsbury and Tranmill, during which he even considered working as a plumber, until he joined Scotland team Inverness in 2012, when he once again found the feeling of a professional player: "We played some important games with Celtics, Rangers, Harts, etc., and we also had to play in the domestic cup and European competitions, which is fantastic. ”
In Hampton Park in 2015, LaVine scored the winning goal in the scottish FA Cup semi-final against the Celtics, who owned Van Dijk. However, he missed the final due to a calf strain, but Inverness defeated Falkirk to win the most important trophy in the club's history.
Van Dijk was a defeated general under Lavin
LaVine is still focused on Scottish football today, partly because he played there and partly because he was teammate with Rangers coach Gerrard: "I desperately want them to win the Super League and not let the Celtics finish a ten-game winning streak. I have no ill will toward the Celtics, just out of support for Steven (Gerald), who has done his job brilliantly.
"He's so much better than my other team-mates and I used to marvel at how good he was on the training ground and I always asked myself ' How did he do it?!' You simply can't keep up with him, he's phenomenal. ”
LaVine played at the same time as Gerald
At the end of his career, LaVine needed to prepare for life after retirement, and in addition to playing football, he also taught students to play football at Ellis Mill College, a key private school in Shropshire. Speaking about the upcoming "second half of my life", LaVine said: "I hope to continue to be with football, I think I have a lot of residual heat to play. ”
This article was first published on the public account: Octopus Emperor
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