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

Chapter 255 Set Sail!Parc des Princes in Paris!
"Don't ask, I know what you are thinking."

Chen Xiaoliang, wearing a sweater with the club logo on it, sat next to Enzo and spoke to the players.

He told the players that the current first team does not count the three youth players Trippi, Tasilovic and Faticanti who followed the training this time but may not always stay in the first team in the new season. Volpato, who has played several times in the second half of last season, and two substitute goalkeepers, currently have a total of 23 players in the first team.

The team plan is to add two more players, one of whom is the Argentine star Dybala that everyone has known for a long time, and the other, in view of the current transfer market situation, Chen Xiaoliang said that it is not convenient to disclose at present.

But whether it is 24 or 25 people, this is only the regular number of first-team teams of most teams. The number of people is definitely not enough.

The team last season, Zaniolo, Matic, Celik, Patricio, and even himself suffered injuries to varying degrees, and Spinazzola didn't even come back until April.

In the later part of the season, a set of main tasks and a few rotation players played almost every game, and the whole team was exhausted.

If it weren't for the team buying three new aids in the winter window, coupled with the rotation of Volpato and Kumbra, it would be impossible for the team to win the triple crown.

What the head coach is doing now is to use the opportunities of training and warm-up matches to find several combinations that can withstand the pressure of the big game when the main force is injured or the rotation is changed.

Of course, this is not an excuse to play poorly tonight.

In the last two months of last season, during the championship stage, the team accounted for more than half of the team's three statistics of sports battle initiation, progressive passing and successful passing. Relying too much on him with the threat of the frontcourt.

This game is a typical case. It is difficult to play the ball in the backcourt, and the frontcourt is running and waiting to catch the ball, resulting in a disconnect between the front and backcourt. It was not changed until Enzo and Wijnaldum came on the field.

Last season was his first season representing Roma. From the defensive midfielder in the first half of the season to the all-round midfielder in the second half of the season, the team is also adapting and adjusting his position on the field.

Now that he has played well, the top three in the north and Naples will definitely make very careful and targeted arrangements for him in the new season, not to mention the opponents he may encounter in the Champions League.

This is why Mourinho introduced two players, Enzo and Wijnaldum, when the number of midfielders was relatively sufficient, just to provide a new offensive and defensive combination in the midfield.

Finally, it is the mentality after winning the championship.

Chen Xiaoliang does not speculate on Mourinho's psychological activities, but the success of last season, while boosting the confidence of all players, also gave birth to another emotion - complacency.

This is normal, but it is also harmful, not only in the players, but also in the fans.

Chen Xiaoliang remembers very clearly that after he first joined the team last season, he also didn't take part in the warm-up match much, and the results of the warm-up match at that time were far worse than now.

But for Roma, who only finished seventh in the league the previous season, the fans gave Mourinho great tolerance and trust at that time.

But now the situation is different, there is only one destiny for the champion - that is to defend the title.

Fans can no longer easily accept the team's defeat, even in a warm-up match.

As long as the opponents who think that their paper strength is not as good as their own team, the result of the game should be only one victory.

In the end, Chen Xiaoliang solemnly warned the whole team that they must forget all the success of last season and return to the original state.

For those old players who were already in the team, recall what Rome was like before the newcomers came. Even if you are the old people of the team, you must understand that there is no new coach or new teammates. likely to succeed.

And new players, whether they came last season or this season, must respect the club's history, traditions and culture, and must respect the contributions made by previous players.

Under Chen Xiaoliang's gesture, Enzo apologized to Pellegrini, and Pellegrini also took the initiative to show his favor to Enzo. This chapter has been turned over.

Just as the two were turning the page, the door of the locker room opened, and Mourinho walked in, obviously having attended the post-match press conference.

The players looked at him with a little embarrassment, and they didn't know if the old man was eavesdropping outside the door, or if he really just came back.

Mourinho said with a little surprise: "Oh? The locker room is so quiet today? Then when you go back to the hotel, you can see how I mocked the two silly reporters."

After finishing speaking, the proud Mourinho saw that the players were still a little embarrassed, and asked Foti, "Are you all right?"

Foti shook his head: "Very good, everyone is quietly reflecting on why they lost tonight."

Mourinho waved his hand: "Come on, go back to the hotel, and leave for Paris tomorrow."

Early the next morning, the team set off and flew to Versailles, a famous satellite city of Paris.

This city is nothing special to foreign players, but the name has special meaning to the Reds.

The team played a friendly match against Ligue 7 Nice in a small stadium here on July 24.

Mourinho continued to deploy a lineup mainly consisting of substitutes and main players in rotation, but still did not give Chen Xiaoliang and Kewa a chance to play. Even Patricio, who started the last game, also returned to the bench.

In this game, he tried to let Christante and Pellegrini play the positions of central midfielders in the first half and the second half, responsible for the guidance and transfer of the ball, but the effect was still not good.

The former is good in the overall situation and has the ability to play the ball, but his weak speed limits his offensive and defensive rhythm and coverage.

Although the latter is very keen on passing the ball forward, he is not good at controlling the rhythm of the midfield, and his weak defensive ability cannot make him a blocker in front of the double midfielder.

In the end, after 90 minutes without any outstanding performances from both sides, with Nice's two "goals", the two sides shook hands 1-1.

Nice scored a goal from a set kick in the first half and scored an own goal in the second half while defending a set kick.

At the post-match press conference, not to mention the "Torino Sport", even the "Corriere dello Sport", which regards Rome under Mourinho as the "Light of Italy", also raised questions, questioning Mourinho's performance in the warm-up match. The tactical arrangements in the game were conservative and rigid, and he made a huge mistake in the transfer of Kvaratsheria, and he did not give a positive response to why Chen Xiaoliang was not allowed to play.

Mourinho didn't explain much, just stretched out three fingers and responded:

"I hope you are not so forgetful, because two months ago, we just won the triple crown, and I clearly remember that at the beginning of last season, when none of you 'experts' and 'authorities' were predicting Think we can win the championship."

A week later, they will face Paris Saint-Germain. The weak performance of the consecutive games made the whole team completely lose the laughter and laughter that they had when they first assembled in training.

Everyone is serious, but also working harder.

After training one afternoon, Foti saw that Chen Xiaoliang, Sesco, and Keva, who had been training extra, had lost their usual relaxation and laughter, and couldn't help finding Mourinho:
"Jose, should I say something? I don't think this kind of morale is good. There are still about 15 days before the league will start. Tell the players what you think, I believe they will understand."

Mourinho smiled crookedly: "Hasn't our captain already said a lot? I think he said it very well, not too much, not too little, he said everything that should be said, and he didn't say anything that shouldn't be said, very good."

Foti looked surprised: "What? You heard it at the door of the locker room last time?"

Mourinho sneered: "Hehe, at the press conference that day, I just answered two questions and left the microphone. I was far outside the locker room door and found it was quiet inside, so I stopped at the door to listen. for a while."

Foti: "You asked Chen to convey it?"

Mourinho shook his head: "No, I, Mourinho, will not have a spokesperson. I am me, and there will be no second me."

Fortunately, Foty, who heard this and was in Versailles, didn't know what Versailles meant...

Mourinho went on to say: "A total of 7 warm-up matches, the last two are the key. I have not let Chen play for more than 20 days to let them understand two things."

"One, he is the well-deserved core of the team. As long as he is on the court, we are another team."

"Two, the team has to learn to play without him."

"Forget that we are the defending champions, forget that we are the Europa League champions, and especially understand that the Champions League is one level ahead of any other competition."

"The reason why I didn't give a lecture is because I didn't intend to say these things. These things should be felt by them themselves."

"There are still some nonsense media saying that we should give up the defensive counterattack tactics in the new season and take the initiative to attack."

"Especially in the next game against Paris Saint-Germain, it is best to have a crazy confrontation."

"I don't want to indoctrinate or explain this to the brats."

"Now they understand? Without the two or three absolute main players and without resolutely playing defensive counterattacks, their level and the little things they play on the field are similar to teams like Sporting Portugal and Nice. .”

"Enzo is a good player, he and Dybala can carry the offensive and defensive responsibilities of the team's frontcourt when Chen is not on the court.

"But he still needs time to settle in."

So, just as Mourinho imagined, the team practiced for 6 days in the sunny and comfortable Versailles with an emotion that was always simmering in their hearts, and then took the bus to Paris 15 kilometers away. In the urban area, go to the Parc des Princes Stadium, home of Greater Paris, to challenge this European upstart.

This is Roma's penultimate warm-up match. They will return to Rome a week later to play a warm-up match with the Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk, and then welcome the start of Serie A.

For Paris, this is a game with a completely different meaning.

Due to successive defeats in the Champions League, Pochettino was fired by the Greater Paris board of directors after the end of last season and hired Lille coach Christophelson, who abruptly took away the Ligue 2020 championship from Greater Paris in the 21-[-] season. Galti is the new boss.

In addition to miraculously winning Ligue 4 with Lille, which was ranked 9th in the previous season, Galti also brought Nice, which was ranked [-]th in the league, into the European theater last season.

After playing Rome, Paris will start its own official game, and the next game will compete with Nantes for the French Super Cup championship.

Perhaps to others, this is just a small trophy in the warm-up phase of the season, but for Galti, who is coaching a super aircraft carrier like Paris for the first time, it is a trophy that must be won.

And behind him, the club's board of directors is watching all the time.

Once the superstar aircraft carrier has any deviation from the course, the Qataris will immediately wave the check to find a new head coach to replace him.

And another problem that the club gave him that must be solved is how to efficiently integrate the Messi-Neymar-Mbappé superstar attack group.

Although this game started because of Wijnaldum's loan, for both coaches, there are reasons that must be taken seriously.

Chen Xiaoliang has trained for a total of 18 days during these 15 days. Although sometimes he lost some formal training time because of the guest referee in team training, he will make up for it in extra training and in the gym. In the rhythm of the 3+1 mode, a total of 56 training points have been obtained.

Training value 17 → 73
He raised his shots to 15 and improved his technique by 1 point.

Shot 13 → 15
Technology 10 → 11
Training value 73 → 13
So far, in addition to the three set-piece attributes of throw-in, penalty kick, and free kick, in fact, he also knows that he has become a "hexagonal fighter" with very comprehensive abilities in all aspects.

However, most of the attributes are still at the level of 15, which is better than the average player, but still far from those with top-level abilities in certain aspects.

And when he walked into the locker room of the Parc des Princes, Mourinho still didn't say much, but when he announced the starting list, he put Chen Xiaoliang on the central midfielder.

This also aroused the curiosity of the three newcomers Enzo, Kwa and Wijnaldum. They also wanted to see how the team captain performed in actual combat, especially when facing the superstars of Paris.

At this stop, Mourinho almost played the main force:
goalkeeper Patricio;
Defenders Celik, Mancini, Ibanez, Malaysia;
Double midfielder Matic and Enzo;
Central midfielder Chen Xiaoliang;

Left winger Zaniolo, right winger Pellegrini, center Sesco.

Although Kwa still did not start, he was told by Forti to "be ready to warm up at any time".

Greater Paris is also doing its best:
goalkeeper Donnarumma;

Three central defenders Kimpembe, Marquinhos, Ramos;

Right wing back Ashraf, left wing back Nuno Mendes;

Double midfielders Verratti and Vitignia;
The name that all Roma players were looking forward to was written on the right winger position!

Messi!

Left winger Neymar!

The only pity is that Mbappe did not start, and the Spanish striker Saravia, newly introduced from Sporting Portugal, took the center position.

It is rumored that during the training the day before the game, Mbappe felt some discomfort in the adductor muscles, so he did not start.

Marquinhos and Chen Xiaoliang exchanged team flags and souvenirs on behalf of the two teams.

And there was a small episode before the game.

When the Roma players entered the stadium, the broadcast in the stadium was very face-saving. They introduced the names of every starting player in Roma in a warm tone, and specifically mentioned Chen Xiaoliang's Copa Award and the status of the best player in Serie A. He also gave a grand welcome to Mu rino.

But then after the big Paris players entered the field, the club also specially organized a small ceremony, because they were also training abroad before, so this was the first warm-up match back home. Club chairman Nasser personally awarded Messi To commemorate the trophy, the broadcaster congratulated Messi in the most excited tone for defeating "European champion Italy" in the summer and winning the European and American Cup.

You know, not only is Roma an Italian club, but Cristant's Spinazzola also won the 2020 European Cup with Italy.

There's something tinged with public sarcasm here.

However, Chen Xiaoliang gave Messi a friendly hug before the kick-off, but the time was too tight, and the two did not have the opportunity to recall their encounter in Paris that night in full view.

However, compared to others, Enzo was the most excited.

This is the first time he has the opportunity to confront his absolute idol on behalf of different teams!Even when entering the player tunnel, he was so nervous that he couldn't restrain himself and trembled slightly.

When Messi announced his withdrawal from the national team in 2016, Enzo, who was 15 years old at the time, published an article publicly, begging Messi not to quit, and said that it was the darkest day in his life.

Since then, he has been chasing Messi as his goal in life.

But he won't be so confused that he deliberately throws water on the field because of star chasing. He knows that the best way to respect idols and help them in the World Cup at the end of the year is to take every training session and every game seriously!
And Chen Xiaoliang has already made preparations. His goal is not only Messi, but also the Brazilian superstar Neymar on the other side, and the expressionless French man sitting on the bench who may not be able to find one for decades. genius.

　Thanks to the senior director of the club [strange] 2 monthly tickets!

　　Thanks to the senior director of the club [The Gatekeeper at Pojiao] for the monthly pass!

　　Thanks to the senior director of the club [Fu Liangchen A who doesn't know me] for the monthly pass!

　　Thanks to the senior director of the club [book friend 20211110034841917] for the monthly pass!

　　Report again with the directors, continue to collect manuscripts in the past two days, and wait for the recommendation event on the 21st.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)