The media was hyping up Atlético Madrid's invitation to Li Ang to coach, which had already affected Sporting de Gijón's players.
"Hey, do you guys think the coach will really go to Madrid?" Modric asked.
"Maybe," Di Natale said with uncertainty. "If I were the coach, I would go."
"No," Javier Blanc said firmly. Javier Blanco said firmly, "The boss has his dreams and plans here. He won't leave Gihon."
As he spoke, Javier Blanc touched the shoulder of the substitute goalkeeper, Robert. They were both promoted from Sporting de Gijón's B team. They were the products of the Malaio youth training and had feelings for Gijón.
"That's right, I think so too," Robert said.
Then the two of them looked at Carlos and Mata.
Mata had recovered from his injury and returned to the team. However, he was still undergoing rehabilitation training and had not yet played a game.
In this team, if there was anyone who was Li Ang's direct descendant, it would definitely be Carlos and Mata.
Although the players did not know that Carlos was the coach's "brother-in-law," Carlos was dug out by Li Ang from the slums. This kid was absolutely loyal to Li Ang, and Mata had volunteered to follow Li Ang from Real Madrid to Gijón. These two young men's loyalty to Li Ang was unquestionable.
"Wherever the boss goes, I'll go." Mata said. He did not mind saying these words. His loyalty to Li Ang was known to everyone. There was no need to avoid anything.
Carlos did not speak. He just nodded. But in his heart, he thought that even if he didn't want to follow Li Ang, his sister wouldn't agree.
Ribéry interjected, "All I know is to play well and repay the boss."
*****
Assistant manager Martin Skrtel looked at the muttering players and sighed helplessly. He felt that it was necessary to talk to Li Ang. The team's morale was now a little slack. The fortress had been breached from the inside. Sporting de Gijón's current state was a hidden danger.
"What are you doing? Have you rested? Then continue training? "Li Ang's voice roared.
Then these players were like frightened little beasts and hurriedly put on a serious attitude towards training.
At the end of the day's training, Scottley found Li Ang.
"Li, I think you need to say something," Skrtel said.
"What's wrong?" Li Ang asked.
"The players are all talking and can't train in peace," Skrtel said. This team could be said to have been built by Li Ang. Most of the players were either promoted from the youth team or brought in from the transfer market. Li Ang was the backbone of the team. The words of Atlético Madrid's owner, Hill, could have such a great impact on Sporting de Gijón because of this reason.
Li Ang glanced at Skrtel and then nodded. "Okay, I understand."
The next day, Li Ang gave a clear response to the invitation of Atlético Madrid's owner, Angel Hill, when he was interviewed by Spain's national channel 3.
"Atlético Madrid is a respectable club. I am very grateful for Mr. Hill's evaluation of me. This is an affirmation of my work. I am now the manager of Sporting de Gijón. I have a contract with the club and I am very happy here. As for the future, now is not the time to discuss it. "
After Li Ang's statement came out, Sporting de Gijón, which had been a little shaken, finally settled down a little.
*****
His attitude was both a response to Angel Hill's invitation and an expression of gratitude for his appreciation. He also politely declined the invitation.
This was basically a common interpretation by the media.
However, some media felt that they smelled a hint of something unusual.
Li Ang's words seemed to indicate that he would abide by his contract with Sporting de Gijón and would not discuss his future before the contract expired. However, if those words were interpreted in depth, it could also be understood that he just did not want to talk about the future now. So, did that mean that he would wait until the end of the season to talk about it?!
Anyway, it was just a short statement. The media naturally had their own interpretation and reasons.
AS immediately published a statement that Li Ang was actually expressing goodwill to Atlético Madrid. Perhaps after the season, the Chinese coach would throw himself into the arms of a powerhouse club.
As for the media's interpretation, Li Ang didn't pay any more attention to it after his speech. Sometimes, the more you talk, the more it will cause disagreement and discussion.
A day later, in the 20th round of the La Liga, Sporting de Gijón welcomed Real Zaragoza on their home ground.
They had swept their opponent 8-0 in the first round of the league, which shocked the Spanish football world.
However, this time, Xi Hong Athletic was on their home ground, and they were tied with their opponents 1: 1.
On one hand, it was because the team was obviously affected by the previous media hype and was a little out of shape. On the other hand, Sporting de Gijón's luck was really bad. Real Zaragoza only had five shots in the entire game and only one of them hit the goalpost before they scored.
*****
In this round of the league, Atlético Madrid lost to Malaga, the second-last team in the league, 0-1. It was a big upset.
Malaga defeated Sevilla in the last round of the league and Atlético Madrid in this round of the league. They were both teams that had just been slaughtered by Sporting de Gijón. Some Spanish media joked that Malaga had good luck and had been picking up scraps behind Sporting de Gijón.
After losing to Malaga, Atlético Madrid's acting manager, the team's youth team manager, Rafael, could only return to the youth team to coach again. Atlético Madrid later announced that the Mexican Aguirre would be the new manager of Atlético Madrid.
Aguirre had been the manager of the Mexican national team as early as 2001. At that time, he replaced Enrique Mesa as the manager of the Mexican national team and led the team to participate in the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea. After losing to their old enemy, the United States in the quarterfinals, he was dismissed. After that, he began to play in the La Liga arena. Before that, he was still coaching Osasuna. However, Atlético Madrid directly poached Aguirre from Osasuna. Obviously, in the face of Atlético Madrid's invitation, Aguirre did not hesitate to embrace them.
After Li Ang "declined" Atlético Madrid's invitation, Atlético Madrid quickly made a move to poach Aguirre.
The rumors about Atlético Madrid's attempt to poach Li Ang seemed to have ended there.
However, at this time, Atlético Madrid's general manager, Angel Hill, said something shocking in an interview with La Repubblica. "My appreciation of Manager Li Ang will not change. Let's see what happens in the summer."
Well, this immediately caused a wave of media hype.
In the face of these reports, Li Ang had to talk to the players in the locker room to appease the players and let everyone ignore the hype. He and the players had glory and goals to work hard for.
In summary, it was to let the players relax. He had a plan in Gijón. Everyone was going to fight for glory together. He would not abandon everyone.
*****
Li Ang was a little angry. He had heard before that the relationship between the Hill family and the manager was very bad. It could even be said that they had a grudge. It was a little strange. Now, looking at Little Hill's actions, Li Ang was also speechless.
Well, Little Hill's pursuit of him made Li Ang quite proud. However, in consideration of his identity as the manager, he sympathized with the newly appointed Aguirre and felt that Little Hill was too much.
Was it not?
Aguirre had just taken office on the first day. It was estimated that the chair in the Atlético Madrid manager's office had not even warmed up when the club's boss made a statement to continue to pursue other managers. He even said something like "a summer appointment." Aguirre's mood could be imagined.
Anyway, Li Ang felt that if he were Aguirre, the only choice was to resign in anger.
Of course, not everyone had Li Ang's pride and backbone. Aguirre did not go berserk. Later, Little Hill seemed to feel that he had said something wrong and needed to appease Aguirre. He praised Aguirre a little. Aguirre immediately pledged his loyalty to Atlético Madrid and also praised the Hill family's contributions to Atlético Madrid. It was very harmonious.
Three days later, in the first leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals, Sporting de Gijón faced Sevilla, the team they had just played two weeks ago.
In this game, Li Ang did not rotate. He sent out all of his main players.
On the one hand, they were facing an opponent they had previously defeated 5-1 in the league. His proud heart would not allow the team to lose.
On the other hand, the team's morale had been fluctuating for the past few days. They needed a victory. Nothing could stabilize the morale of the team more than a victory.
*****
In the first half of the game, both sides played to a 0-0 score. Sporting de Gijón's luck was a little bad. Diego Milito and Modric's shots hit the post and crossbar respectively.
Sevilla also sent out all of their main players. It was clear that Caparos was also holding back his anger in this game to take revenge. He knew that Sporting de Gijón's morale was unstable and wanted to take advantage of it. Throughout the first half, Sevilla fought fiercely.
Seventeen minutes into the second half, Sporting de Gijón took advantage of a free kick to break through the ten fingers of Sevilla's goalkeeper, Esteban.
The goal was scored by the team's right back, Ivanovic. The Serbian and Montenegrin defenders suppressed Navarro in the penalty area and completed a very beautiful header.
In this game, Ivanovic continued to be in the starting lineup. With Dorado's injury, Ivanovic firmly held the position of the main right back. Now that Dorado was about to return from his injury, it was clear that it would be difficult for him to regain the position of the main right back.
Ivanovic was very active today. He constantly assisted on the right flank and completely suppressed Sevilla's left flank. Scoring a goal to break the deadlock was the best reward for him.
The game was not over yet. After the goal, Sporting de Gijón played even more excitedly, especially Ribéry. His assists on the left flank were also very sharp. Towards the end of the game, taking advantage of Sevilla's large-scale counterattack to equalize the score, Ribéry and Di Natale cooperated on the flank. After a beautiful breakthrough, Ribéry passed the ball, allowing Di Natale, who had inserted into the middle, to find a good opportunity to shoot. For the second time, the ball was sent into the goal guarded by Esteban.
Originally, Sevilla's manager, Caparos, had made very detailed defensive arrangements for Sporting de Gijón's offensive tactics, from retreating to relying on offensive suppression. But he did not expect Li Ang's tactics to particularly emphasize the flank today. Ribéry and Ivanovic, one on the left and one on the right, flew together on the two wings and directly suppressed Sevilla. This made Caparos's set of tactics, which was specially formulated according to the previous situation between the two teams, suddenly lose its effect.
*****
In Spain, the reports of Atlético Madrid's boss, Hill, wanting to poach Li Ang began to cool down after Li Ang did not participate in the discussion.
However, in the distant Apennine Peninsula, there was a ripple.
Pinetina, the training base of the Serie A powerhouse Inter Milan.
The Pinetina base was built in 1962. At the strong request of the then manager, Herrera, Moratti's father, Angelo Moratti. Moratti funded the construction. But the purpose of building the base was only for training. There were no accommodation facilities at all, only a training ground, a gym, and a swimming pool. In 1965, the Pinetina base had a small main building, but the base's uncoordinated structure and incomplete functions had been left behind.
The players' rooms at the Pinetina base were small and there was insufficient light. The only window was located near the roof and was only the size of a palm. The air-conditioning system was a mess, cold in winter and hot in summer. On January 12, 2003, Vieri and Di Biagio did not play in the game against Modena. The team announced to the public that they had caught the flu, but in fact, they had left the base without permission. The two insisted that it was because the room was overheated and they could not sleep.
The Nerazzurri club had a habit of letting the players sleep in the rooms at the Pinetina base before the home game. Before the game, they would train in a closed environment to avoid outside interference.
The current Inter Milan manager, Mancini, was not very interested in this. He suggested to the Inter Milan boss, Moratti, that the players should stay in a luxury hotel before the game to help improve morale.
Moratti did not agree to this suggestion. On this day, Moratti came to Pinetina for an inspection, intending to have a heart-to-heart talk with the players to understand their views. The president, who was affectionately called "Daddy" by many Inter Milan fans, was very good to the players.
The rooms at Pinetina were not well soundproofed.
Moratti heard the loud discussion in Vieri's room when he was in the corridor.
"Hey, Bobo," a voice shouted. A voice shouted, "I heard that Atlético Madrid is going to hire a Chinese coach. Is that true?"
The speaker was Cambiasso, who had just come to Inter Milan from Real Madrid on a free transfer last summer. Bobo was Vieri's nickname. He used to play for Atlético Madrid, where he became famous. The "newcomer," Cambiasso, knew how to talk to the veteran Vieri. Things at Atlético Madrid seemed to be a good topic to talk about.
"Oh, that's right," Vieri said lazily. "It's true. Everyone in Madrid is talking about it. "
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