From the man behind the football king to the football king.

Chapter 457 Off-field competition

Mourinho glanced at the Ajax coaching bench and saw Bosz calling a thin young man to the sidelines for an interview. That was Ajax's young Morocco international Ziyech, a short player who was fast and had pretty good skills with his feet.

However, after the game started, Ziyech's performance could only be described as average and did not show much threat. Mourinho did not pay too much attention.

However, just five minutes later, Mourinho realized that he had underestimated the young Moroccan.

This is Ziyech receiving a long pass from De Ligt in the midfield. He stopped the ball with his chest, and then suddenly raised the ball. The football flew over Mata's head, and he himself twisted his waist and accelerated past the Spanish midfielder. Pass.

"Breaking through!" shouted Lineker.

Mata was passed too easily, which directly disrupted Manchester United's defense deployment.

"Come on!" Maguire shouted at Damian.

Damian rushed forward, Ziyech looked at the rushing Manchester United left back, he pulled the ball horizontally, looked up at the direction of the goal, and immediately made a move with his feet to shoot from a long distance.

Can't let him shoot!

Damian reacted immediately and tackled directly.

"Fool!"

Mourinho almost cursed when he saw this scene off the court. This was really an extremely reckless and even stupid choice.

Ziyech, who has excellent skills and flexible movements, easily dunked past Damian who was making a tackle, and then dribbled the ball into the penalty area.

………………

The cheers of the Ajax fans overwhelmed the Manchester United fans at this moment, and they saw the hope of scoring.

Kasper Dolber had already moved forward. Ziyech raised his foot and was about to send the ball diagonally, and then one foot appeared in front of him!

"Bang!" Two people faced each other, and the football bounced up. Without any hesitation, the person turned his body directly over, stuck his position, and then kicked the football out of the sideline in an awkward posture.

"Kante!" Ferdinand shouted excitedly. "At the critical moment, it was Kante who rushed back to block Ziyech's pass and successfully destroyed the attack. Kante told everyone with practical actions that there is He’s here, don’t worry!”

Mourinho stood up. It was not that he had not realized Ziyech's threat before, but that the player's condition since the start of today's game was indeed very average, which made Mourinho relax his vigilance.

However, it now seems that this young Moroccan has been adjusting his state and is now in good shape.

………………

Three minutes later, Valencia collided with the opponent's player Feltman. The latter fell to the ground and the team doctor came in to check the Ajax defender.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Mourinho shouted to his players to come over: "N'Golo! Bruno! Come over!"

The two players heard the coach's shouts and came running from the far end.

"Strengthen Ziyech's pressing." Mourinho pointed at Ajax No. 22 on the court and said, "This kid is very flexible. Tell everyone not to give him another chance to break through easily."

"In addition -" Mourinho put his arm around each other and said, "Where Schone is, focus on pressing there. He is the key point for Ajax's midfielder to deliver the ball and is also a defensive barrier."

"Also, when attacking, Juan needs protection." Mourinho said, noting that Ajax also stepped up its pressing on Mata.

"When Juan has the ball, you have to protect him," Mourinho said to Kante. "Protect him from being easily robbed. If the ball is lost, grab it immediately. Yes, grab it. Juan drops back quickly and organizes the defense behind you."

"Tell Juan that his position is closer to the center, leaving room for Damian to sprint from the wing."

"Got it, coach."

"Be smart and intercept with skill." Mourinho pointed at his head.

"Understood." Kant nodded.

Mourinho glanced at Kanter, as if to confirm whether the guy really understood.

Mourinho patted the two people on the shoulders and continued: "The midfield is the key. Between the two of you, one can defend and the other organizes the offense. We will win this game."

"Hey, the Grand Slam is at your feet." Mourinho said with a smile, pushing the two players back to the court, "Come on!"

………………

A few minutes later, Ajax had an offensive opportunity. Caspar Dolber suddenly took a long shot. The football was blocked by Maguire with his body. Bruno kicked the football forward and Rashford headed it. , wanting to push up to Damian who came over to help him, but unexpectedly, he pushed directly into Shenei. Schone had just caught the ball and was about to turn around when he was pushed down from behind.

"This time it was Kanter's foul, a smart tactical foul!" Lineker praised.

When Schone got the ball, both Ziyech and Klassen were running. There was space there. As long as he passed the football, he would be a great threat.

The referee awarded Ajax a free kick in the frontcourt, but did not take the card to Kante. His action just now was very small, not enough to warrant a card, but the referee Skomina gave Kanter a verbal warning, and the latter accepted it humbly.

Ajax coach Bosz was so angry that he thought the referee should play a card. He didn't even get a card. The Manchester United man stopped a threatening attack from Ajax with a trivial foul. This business is really profitable.

Mourinho was applauding and cheering for this defense. He nodded with satisfaction. Even though Kanter looks naive and silly, he is actually a smart little guy!

Kanter committed a tactical foul and Ajax got a free kick in the frontcourt. However, Ziyech's shot did not pose much threat to Manchester United's goal.

"Both sides stepped up their fight in the midfield. After Manchester United scored, the midfielder's pressing tactics prevented both sides from getting a good scoring opportunity."

………………

Although no more goals were scored, Mourinho still expressed satisfaction.

He could see that after falling behind, Ajax was determined to continue to strengthen its offense, and Mourinho had to admit that Ajax had two skills in the midfield and frontcourt, whether it was the forward or the forward. Traore, Younis, Casper Dolber, or Ziyech, Klaassen and Schone in the midfield are all actually capable, and they work well together, are young and energetic, if If they were defeated, even with Manchester United's strong defensive ability, it would be very uncomfortable.

However, under Manchester United's tough pressing, it was difficult for Ajax to organize an effective offense for a while. On the contrary, because of the opponent's tough pressing, the anger also rose, and the actions of both sides on the field became more and more intense. The bigger.

Manchester United did this intentionally, so the players were relatively well-informed, but that was not the case with Ajax. If the first half had not ended, Mourinho would not have doubted that the Ajax players would Someone got a second yellow card and was sent off.

It can be said that it seems that the field is in a state of anxiety, but in fact Manchester United controls the initiative on the field.

………………

In the VIP lounge area of ​​the Friendship Stadium, AC Milan general manager Fassone hung up the phone and sighed helplessly. He had just reported to his boss Silvio Berlusconi about the player he was interested in, but the boss asked him how much he was worth, and then It's just vague.

Feeling that someone was watching him, Fassone turned his head and saw his old enemy Auricio (Inter Milan technical director).

Damn it, why is this guy here?
The two of them smiled fakely, shook hands and exchanged greetings. They looked like they had such a good relationship that they could wear a pair of pants.

"Who do you like?" Auricio asked suddenly.

Fassone stared at Auricio, seeming to consider the other person's intentions, and then said two names.

Auricio frowned. This is also a player that Inter Milan is interested in. One of the players is said to have been spotted by Manchester United coach Mourinho and intends to bring him to Old Trafford in the summer.

"The Colombians are yours," Fassone suggested, "the Dutch are ours."

Auricio thought for a while, nodded, and the two parties shook hands and reached a gentleman's agreement. However, the two old foxes were smiling proudly in their hearts. There was one name they did not say out loud, and that was their real goal.

At this time, an Arab-faced man in a suit and tie walked over while making a phone call. Translated into easy-to-understand words, he said: "According to me, the easiest way is to hollow them out directly, and we will round them up."

"From Manchester City?" Orisio's expression changed and he asked.

"Hmph, upstart." Fassone snorted.

………………

Soon, the bosses of the two giants in Milan saw a lot of familiar faces after a short observation, from Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, And Barcelona, ​​eh? Someone from Juventus is also here?

Fassone and Orisio both understood. Obviously, Ajax's fat piece of meat is being targeted by almost most of the giants that can be counted.

The two Milan bosses looked at each other, then looked away, with an idea in mind: strike first before the other party could react.

As for the gentleman's agreement just reached? Is there such a thing?

In fact, when a certain team suddenly rises and becomes a blockbuster, what is left to them is often not the dream of a giant's rise, but more of being divided up by many giants.

The most typical example is Ajax in the 1990s, when Ajax once reached the top of Europe. Then, that Ajax team was completely swallowed up by many giants, and stars such as Seedorf and Kluivert were divided up.

Subsequently, Ajax spent ten years cultivating a group of stars, such as Ibrahimovic, Sneijder, Van der Vaart, De Jong, Maxwell, Vermaelen and so on. Then in 2004, Zlatan Ibrahimovic joined Juventus, which started a feast for this group of stars. In less than three years, Ajax had cultivated this group of players for ten years. The stars have been divided up.

(End of this chapter)