Football: The butcher in the midfield at the start, the magic bird stunned

Chapter 254 Encountered a crisis before facing Paris?

After the whole team assembled, the veteran Portugal who flew to Mourinho started the flight training.

After two days of adaptation, on July 7, Rome ushered in the first warm-up match for the summer preparations.

The opponent is the English Champions League team Sunderland.

This veteran team with a history of more than 6 years has won six top league titles in England. However, after being relegated from the Premier League in 2016-17 and then from the Championship the following year, it struggled in League One for a long time. No. 5, after winning the promotion play-offs of the four teams ranked 3-6, they finally "returned" to the British Championship...

Due to the weak opponents and the first warm-up match at the beginning of the season, there was no ticket sales for this game, but it was broadcast live by the local sports media in Portugal.

The one-and-a-half-month "ball shortage" has long made the fans hungry, especially the fans of the Red Country. After experiencing Chen Xiaoliang's "mysterious return to China" incident, they are eager to see him return to the European arena.

And this game was at 7 o'clock on July 13th, the imperial capital of the Red Country. For the fans of the Red Country, there is simply no better "meeting ceremony" for the new season.

从6月26日回到特里戈里亚到今天，除去飞往葡萄牙的一天，其余时间陈小亮一天不拉，16天的3小时训练训练和1小时加练的“3+1训练模式”，让他累积了64点训练值。

Training value 38 → 102
他先花了25点，将射门从5提升到10，又用了60点，将射门从10提升到13。

Shot 5 → 13
Training value 102 → 17
Although 13's shooting is much better than before, it is still far from excellent.

However, Chen Xiaoliang was not in a hurry. Mourinho really fulfilled his "promise". In this warm-up match against Sunderland, the old main players in the team, especially those who started a lot last season, basically didn't play much.

The goalkeeper is rookie Svilar;
Defender Viña, teenager Kramisis, Smalling and Spinazzola;

midfielder Volpato and Enzo;
Central midfielder Wijnaldum;

Left winger Zalewski, right winger Zaniolo;

Center Abraham.

But even a lineup of "rotation plus newcomers plus young generals" is enough to kill the newly promoted champions of the British Championship.

It was 3-0 in the first half alone.

Smalling opened the scoring with a header from a corner kick, then Zarawski assisted Zaniolo to score an inverted triangle shot, and then Wijnaldum inserted into the penalty area and shot another goal.

In the second half, Mourinho almost changed the entire team, except for the main players such as Matic, Mancini and Malaysia, No. [-] goalkeeper Boll, Shalawi who hardly played last season, and several A young player from the youth training team who went to Portugal for training with the team also played.

Even Sesco got a 20-minute "hot foot" opportunity.

Only Chen Xiaoliang and Kvaratsheria didn't fish for 1 minute.

This made the fans who were looking forward to Chen Xiaoliang's play unavoidably somewhat disappointed.

In the end, Abraham headed and Volpato kicked and scored two more goals. In the end, Rome ended the first warm-up match 5-0.

Not only did he miss the friendly match, Mourinho also deliberately reduced Chen Xiaoliang's playing time in the team confrontation, and even asked him to be a guest referee in the team training match several times...

The reason why he did this is very simple. According to the report given by the physical fitness coach and the sports science team, Chen Xiaoliang's body fatigue and physical reserve are at the optimal level.

People start the season to gradually regain their form and reserve their physical fitness for the first half of the league, so they have to arrange a warm-up. Fortunately, Chen Xiaoliang is already ready for the official game, so why take the risk of injury to play a friendly match? .

Four days later, the team ushered in the second warm-up match in Portugal, against the Portuguese Super League team Portimones.

The game was still held on the training ground, but the time was changed to the afternoon of the local time, that is, 2:[-] a.m. in the Red Country time. In addition, the club released the playing list in advance, so Chen Xiaoliang simply did not appear in the squad. The number of viewers plummeted.

Most of the starters in this game have been rotated with the starters on the field, but the formation is still 4-2-3-1.

The goalkeeper is No. [-] goalkeeper Bohr;
Defenders Celik, Mancini, Ibanez, Malaysia,
Defenders Cristante and Wijnaldum;
Enzo plays central midfielder;

Left winger Shalawi, right winger Pellegrini, center forward continues to be Abraham.

The players can also see that this is the degree of tacit understanding and coordination effect between different combinations in the frontcourt during the test, and the focus of the inspection of Wijnaldum and Enzo in the front and back of the midfield. The role of the position and the level of play.

Although Chen Xiaoliang was sitting in the stands without even wearing his jersey, Mourinho gave him a task.

Let him take a good look at the habits and styles of the two new midfielders and their next partners on the court.

Although the Portuguese Super League team Portimones has been wandering in the lower reaches of the league standings all year round, facing one of the greatest football coaches in Portugal and the defending champion of Serie A, they played with a fighting spirit and attitude of 120 points. This warm-up match.

Although the quality of Roma's team training is also very high, after all, these players get along day and night, and they are very familiar with each other's playing style and personal habits. Opponents are different.

Therefore, it is not enough for Chen Xiaoliang to run in with the two new midfielders in training, he must get to know them in actual combat.

Portimones created a lot of difficulties for Roma, and even took the initiative on the scene with 55% possession rate.

But as Mourinho said, although Wijnaldum and Enzo, who switched positions one after the other in this game, still performed very hard, it seemed that Wijnaldum was ahead of the previous game. Enzo's configuration at the back, the performance of the two after changing positions in this game has declined to varying degrees.

Wijnaldum in particular, despite his long running distance and high defensive enthusiasm, one-on-one defense is not his strong point.

When he was in the front, Enzo was the main defense. He came over to rely on running and body to help defend, and he could quickly double-team the ball holder.

And when he is behind, Enzo still needs to come back to defend, and because his ability to steal the ball one-on-one is not very strong, Enzo has to withdraw very deep.

In addition, in the transition between offense and defense, Wijnaldum's weakness of being good at advancing and not good at long-distance passing was also exposed because of playing the delayed midfielder.

This is not a problem for Enzo, who likes through balls very much. He can often use long-distance passes to launch counterattacks as soon as he gets the ball like Matic.

However, in offense, Enzo is relatively weaker than Wijnaldum in the central midfielder position.

His ball control, dribbling and the physical confrontation ability of the opponent's half against the defense are not as good as the Dutch midfielder.

Therefore, as Mourinho said, Chen Xiaoliang, who sat in the stands for the whole game, gained a lot.

Anyway, there is no task reward for the warm-up match... The missed playing time will be made up by extra practice.

In the end, with Ibañez's catch-up shot in the penalty area and Pellegrini's anti-offside single-handed goal after receiving Enzo's through pass, Roma won two consecutive warm-up matches 2-0.

After two warm-up matches, the successful Wijnaldum did not receive too much evaluation from the fans. After all, fans who care about football on weekdays will have heard of the Dutch midfielder to some extent.

But the two newcomers Enzo and Kvaratsheria received completely different evaluations.

Enzo's comprehensive ability and tough style of play in the two games have been well received by the fans.

There are also many people on the Internet @ACmilanclub, leaving a message saying that AC Milan will not buy Enzo after letting Casey go, and instead reuse Povega, they will definitely regret it.

But Kwak, who has never had a chance to play, is not so well treated.

Comments such as "parallel imports", "lottery tickets", "weak body can't play Serie A", "Mourinho found out he was cheated" come and go.

Although the young Kva has a stronger heart than his peers, after all, the influence and attention of the Russian Super League and the Georgian Super League are not at the same level as Serie A, and the number of fans' comments and media opinions is not the same. level.

In addition, because there are no games during the offseason, in order to maintain traffic, the sports media, in addition to substantially tracking the transfer progress of each big team, will even catch up with rumors and even fabricate a lot of "news" out of thin air.

No, in addition to tracking Juventus and Turin's preparations at length, "Turin Sports Daily" also gave Roma a treatment that is not available in Serie A-a whole page of "informants" news every day.

The reason why it is called informant news is because apart from introducing the results of the warm-up match, the first sentence of the other news is "according to the source of the reporter", or "according to Mourinho's old friend", "Chen Xiaoliang's close friend ", "A former staff member of the Club of Rome" revealed.

The only thing missing is the friend of Totti's uncle's aunt's aunt's second nephew's nephew.

Recent reports include:

"Parallel imports!Kvaratsheria was waived indefinitely by Mourinho! "

"The Roman Board of Directors Outraged!Spending money to buy useless people, Mourinho may be fired"

"Why not on Chen Xiaoliang?It turns out that Enzo is not a stand-in, but the club is preparing to sell Chen Xiaoliang"

"Financial Fair Play violations a foregone conclusion?Mourinho was forced to choose to sell Chen Xiaoliang, and the prospect of Roma in the new season is bleak"

Etc., etc.

As for the following articles about finances and Chen Xiaoliang, the proportion of people who believed them was not too high, but the report about Kwa being a parallel importer was praised by many Roma fans.

[Delayed signing Dybala, but went to buy a winger that the Russian Super League doesn't want? 】

[What's the use of getting the best rookie in the Russian Super League?Can the level of the Russian Super League be compared with the five major leagues? 】

[The two major problems of last season were that no one made a breakthrough in the frontcourt, and the central defenders always made mistakes, but they still bought midfielders in the end]

[Mourinho is inflated, I think this lineup is enough to challenge the Champions League]

[Heh, when you meet Real Madrid, Bayern, Manchester City, Paris, you can't get kicked out of shit]

...

And such negative comments reached their peak after the third warm-up match.

As the last of Portugal's three consecutive games, the team also ushered in a very strong opponent, the Portuguese Super League runner-up last season, and the Portuguese Sporting who also qualified for the Champions League in the new season.

However, I don’t know if Mourinho didn’t read the negative news, or it doesn’t matter if he read it. In short, after he said at the pre-match press conference that he would send the “strongest lineup”, he still put Chen Xiaoliang and Kewa in the same position. on the bench.

goalkeeper Patricio;
Defender Spinazzola, Smalling, Ibanez, Malaysia;
Double midfielder Matic and Christante;

Left winger Abraham, central midfielder Pellegrini, right winger Zaniolo;

Center Sesco.

There is one thing to say, except for Chen Xiaoliang who was not on the team, this lineup was indeed the main players last season.

But the state shown by the team, just like the progress of the game, surprised the outside world.

At Sporting Lisbon's home stadium, the Alvalade Stadium, which can accommodate 50080 people, under the witness of more than 3 fans, Sporting Lisbon almost achieved a half-time siege of Rome in 45 minutes of the first half, shooting 10 to 3 , Shots on target 4 to 0, possession rate 61% to 39%, Roma didn't even get a corner kick.

It can be seen from the data that Rome was not only suppressed, but also failed to play its best scoring method, the quick counterattack.

The half-time score of 2-0 also confirmed this point.

The first goal conceded was when the opposing striker Marcus dribbled the ball into the penalty area. Smalling had no choice but to stretch out his hand after being swayed. As a result, Marcus fell down as soon as he was touched. The referee awarded a penalty kick and Sporting Portugal hit That is.

The second conceded goal was a corner kick defense missed, and the opponent's central defender Inazio grabbed a header and scored.

However, Mourinho did not show any emotion in the midfield, just blandly asked the players to increase their concentration and let the rest of the players warm up.

In the second half, Mourinho replaced Abraham and Mancini to play three central defenders, allowing Zaniolo to play double central defenders with Cesco.

But Mancini's playing did not improve the embarrassment of Rome's inability to effectively deliver the ball forward in the middle, so it became meaningless for Zaniolone to receive the middle.

A striker who can't get the ball can't score.

In the 56th minute, Sporting made another victory. Viña, who replaced Spinazzola, was intercepted by the opponent's striker when he returned a pass to the penalty area, and then the teammate who inserted the pass back succeeded in an empty goal.

3:0.

The players on the field became impatient in the ensuing game, and their movements gradually became louder, while the faces of the players who were substituted and sitting on the bench began to be full of expressions of frowning, shaking their heads, and sighing.

Seeing this, even Foti couldn't sit still:
"Jose, if this continues, the morale of the team will be destroyed."

Mourinho said blankly: "Then what do you say?"

Foti: "Replace Chen, Enzuo, and the others."

Mourinho: "What game is it today?"

Foti was taken aback: "A friendly match with Sporting Portugal."

Mourinho: "According to what you mean, it means that you also know that Chen, Enzo, and Wijnaldum did not perform well today?"

"Then let me ask you, in the second half of the season, when we have to participate in the Champions League knockout rounds, the league and the domestic cup at the same time in a week, we can use Chen, Cesco and Wijnaldum every game. ?"

"Pinto told me there wasn't enough money to sign Belotti again, that's why I even used Shalawi, and when it got too late, he and Zaniolo had to go into the penalty area to play. Center."

"Otherwise? Let Cesco start 40 games a year?"

"So why are you panicking now? The meaning of the warm-up match is trial and error."

Having said that, Mourinho changed the subject: "Let Enzo and Wijnaldum come on, but Chen and Kwa must not go on."

Foti knew that he couldn't argue with his immediate superior, so he had to insist on doing so.

And with the boos of many fans in the stadium who made a special trip to see Roma, the coach of Sporting Lisbon also showed a very high degree of sophistication.

He changed 5 people at a time, and then changed 3 people after a while, almost changing the entire team, and all of them were young players.

This also turned the tide of the game.

In the 77th minute, Rome was besieged. Wijnaldum supported the opponent's midfielder with his body, and he just dribbled the ball into the penalty area and passed it to Sesco in a short distance.

Cesko shot from a small angle, and the opponent's defender stretched his leg to block it, but accidentally hit his own goal.

3 to 1, Roma pulled back a goal, but Cesco was replaced by Shalawi after the goal.

In the 86th minute, Zaniolo counterattacked and crossed the front of the penalty area. Pellegrini moved forward a little slower. After receiving the ball, the shot was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper with his body. Foot lob, the ball flew into the empty goal.

3:2.

Roma were unable to equalize despite a frenzied counter-attack against a group of young Portuguese players in their 20s in the final minutes.

After the game, the players returned to the locker room depressed, and the atmosphere in the room was also very dignified.

No one talks, so I can only look at my phone while tidying up.

Comments after the game:

[It's okay, Goose will overtake the score at the post-match press conference]

[Portugal Sports coach: In order to avoid being too ugly, I have already asked my players to send two of them on their own initiative, please let the press conference go.]

【That's it?Still playing in the Champions League?I said before that Roma won the championship last season mainly because Inter Milan and Juventus just entered the adjustment period]

[It feels like the script at Manchester United is about to reappear in Rome]

[The opposite side is full of small players, and Shalawi is not on the Georgian Messi. It seems that there is no need to guess how good this player is.]

[Without Xiao Liang, I would not even qualify for the European Cup]

【What happened to Xiaoliang?Why only give so little time?Are you in conflict with Uncle Psy? 】

...

Seeing these comments, the already depressed players became even more upset.

At this time, the outspoken Enzo yelled: "I came here because after seeing the team's performance last season, I thought that everyone is a fighter full of fighting spirit and will never admit defeat! But today our performance is really amazing. Too bad! I hope that even if it is a warm-up match, we can take it seriously!"

The players in the team immediately cast surprised glances at him, but Pellegrini replied:
"You mean we have no fighting spirit, our performance is poor, and you are the only one who takes it seriously?"

Enzo stood up: "I'm talking about us! Of course it includes me too! Didn't your performance not bad today?"

Seeing Enzo standing up, Pellegrini stood up and walked towards him: "What do you want to say? You have only been here for a few days, and you are lecturing in the locker room?"

Seeing that the two of them approached and were about to push against each other, they put their hands on their shoulders.

The two turned their heads and saw that it was Chen Xiaoliang, and his expression was extremely serious, as if he was giving orders.

Pellegrini didn't even look at Enzo, and turned his head to sit back. Although Enzo disdained Pellegrini's reaction, he felt the force of Chen Xiaoliang's arm pressing himself down, and turned his head back. In front of his locker.

Forti, who was going to try to persuade him just now, saw Chen Xiaoliang standing next to Enzo, while he walked to Pellegrini's side.

Chen Xiaoliang looked around at everyone in the locker room, saw that they were also looking at him, and said:
"The coach is at the press conference, and now I will give you a temporary player meeting."

　Thanks to the senior director of the club [Panda's Ancestors] for the 2 monthly tickets!
　　Thanks to the senior director of the club [book friend 20220724212419523] for the monthly pass!

　　Thanks to the senior director of the club [book friend 20171113080340660] for the monthly pass!

　　Thanks to the senior director of the club [book friend 20170310215917212] for the monthly pass!

　　I received the editor's notice to recommend it on the 21st. Since the 21st is New Year's Eve, I can't stop updating and at the same time I need to update as much as possible, so I have accumulated manuscripts in the past few days. Please understand that I still need everyone's support at that time. Thank you very much !

　　
　
(End of this chapter)