Sporting de Gijón had an away game in this round of the league tournament. They would be visiting Seville's Estadio Pis Juan, which had one of the highest home win rates in La Liga this season.
Sporting de Gijón arrived in Seville a day in advance. At the hotel where they were staying, assistant manager Martin Skrtel was assigning rooms to the players.
Li Ang was observing Adier Lami and Juan Arango. Both players were silent.
Arango was on the team's roster for this game, while Lami was not. However, he still came to Seville with the team and would appear in the stands when the time came. Li Ang hoped that the French center back could feel the atmosphere of the La Liga stadium.
After the arrangements were made, Li Ang called Lami and Arango. He felt that it was necessary to talk to the two players and encourage them.
It was Lami's first time signing with a professional team. He had not played for the team for even a minute, but he was arbitrarily questioned and even ridiculed by the media. Juan Arango had just come to Europe to play football last summer. His performance at Sporting de Gijón was average. Now that he had come to Sporting de Gijón, he was questioned to such an extent by the media. This situation was really bad for the two rookies who had just joined Sporting de Gijón. They had not even started their professional careers in this new environment and a new team, but they were already labeled with question marks and even malicious exclamation marks. It was unfair.
*****
"Adier." Li Ang asked Lami, "Have you heard of Brest?"
Lami shook his head blankly.
"It's a French professional team." Li Ang said and shrugged. "It's a French third-division team. You see, even you, a Frenchman, have not heard of it. It shows what kind of existence this team is."
Lami did not understand what the manager was trying to say. It was not surprising that he had not heard of a French third-division team.
Juan Arango also did not understand.
"The doubts and malicious criticism that the two of you are receiving now were the same as Frank Ribéry a few months ago." Li Ang said, "Because before he came to Sporting de Gijón, he played for Brest. To be exact, his contract with Brest was about to expire, and he had no football to play for. "
Both Rami and Arango widened their eyes. Of course, they now knew the importance of Ribéry in Sporting de Gijón's team. The Frenchman of Rami's hometown was now the absolute main force in Sporting de Gijón's midfield. He performed well in the first half of the season and was one of the main contributors to the team's current fourth-place ranking in the league. They did not expect Ribéry to be in the same situation as them a few months ago.
*****
"The media doubted Ribéry, criticized him, and questioned whether a French low-level league player was worthy of playing in La Liga. The pressure that Ribéry was under at that time was no less than what you are facing now." Li Ang winked. "At that time, the media concentrated all their firepower on him. Now that the two of you are together, you can share the firepower of the attacks on each other."
Rami and Arango laughed when they heard Li Ang's teasing.
"Ribéry did well in the face of doubts and criticism. He used his excellent performance and goals to fight back directly! He used his outstanding performances to viciously slap the media who looked down on him! How are the media talking about Ribéry now? You should be able to imagine. Those are all mushy praises. "Li Ang said with a smile.
Rami widened his eyes with envy and admiration. Arango also clenched his fists and looked very relieved, as if he was the one who slapped the media.
"Now, don't think too much. Don't pay attention to the voices of those flies." Li Ang patted the shoulders of the two players with one hand. "What you have to do is to work hard, train hard, and prepare with hard work. Then, when the team needs you, use your excellent performance to fight back fiercely!"
"Slap their mouths!" The two said in unison.
"That's right." Li Ang nodded with a smile. "Do your best. All the hard work is for the day when you can hold your head high!"
Both of them nodded their heads vigorously.
"I have a good eye for people." Finally, Li Ang said with a wink.
The two players smiled. The manager's words moved them even more. For the players who had just joined a team, there was nothing more reassuring than the manager's attention.
Li Ang was setting a good example for Adier Rami and Juan Arango, such as Franck Ribéry. Correct attitude, work hard, and learn from Ribéry's good example!
*****
Li Ang chose to let Rami sit in the stands for this game and not enter the main roster. This was a relatively correct decision. After all, Rami had not played a professional game. The gap from an amateur player to the La Liga was too big. Now, Rami had not reached the requirements to represent the team in a game. Li Ang was ready to let Rami train with the team for a period of time and improve his strength. He also had another consideration, which was to see the situation and send Rami to the reserve team to play in the Spanish Third Division to train.
As for Juan Arango, he had been a rotation player for Mallorca in the first half of the season. He had played for Mallorca as a starter or a substitute for more than ten games. His strength was good and he could be considered to have La Liga experience. Although his performance was average, the Venezuelan already had the basic qualifications and strength to play in Sporting de Gijón's first team. Therefore, for the game against Sevilla, Li Ang included Arango in the team's main roster. In the situation where Mata had not recovered from his injury and returned to the team, Arango and Modric were players with very different technical characteristics. Arango would enrich Sporting de Gijón's attacking methods to a certain extent.
The next day, at the pre-match press conference, Sporting de Gijón's manager, Li Ang, and Sevilla's manager, Caparos, both praised each other. The managers of the fourth and second teams in La Liga seemed to appreciate each other's talents.
In fact, as soon as they turned around and returned to their respective locker rooms, Li Ang gritted his teeth and ordered his players to win the game and get off to a good start for the second half of the season after the winter break. As for Sevilla, Caparos also had a serious look on his face. He emphasized the importance of this game and asked his team to win it. Sevilla, who was ranked second in the league, could be said to be in high spirits. They felt that there was no team that they could not beat. Just before the winter break, they took away three points from Bernabéu and humiliated Real Madrid. This time, facing the fourth place in the league, Sporting de Gijón, the dark horse chasing after them, Sevilla's manager, Caparos, shouted the slogan in the team: Teach the Gijón people a good lesson!
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