In the stands of the Tardini Stadium, there were three spectators who caught the director's attention. The camera zoomed in on the three of them.
"It's rumored that Inter Milan wants to compete with AC Milan for Gilardino. Are they here to observe Gilardino? Or are they interested in the other Parma players? "Italian commentator Viviano asked.
The people who appeared in the stands were Inter Milan's chairman, Moratti, Inter Milan's manager, Oriari, and Inter Milan's technical director, Blanca. Other than Inter Milan's chairman, Facchetti, who was not present, three of Inter Milan's big four were present. Parma, which was on the verge of relegation, had many players that the other big clubs coveted. Therefore, the Italian commentator's speculation that Inter Milan's top management was here to observe Parma's players was reasonable.
However, no one would have thought that the purpose of these three people's visit to the Tardini Stadium had nothing to do with Parma.
"What do you think?" Moratti asked the two people sitting on either side of him.
"Sporting de Gijón seems to have the upper hand, but they are too impatient," Blanca said. "I don't think the coaching philosophy of this Chinese man is suitable for Serie A. A team that has the upper hand but doesn't score has a high chance of losing."
*****
Blanca had been against it ever since he learned that the team's owner, Moratti, was interested in coming to the Tardini Stadium to observe the Chinese manager of the dark horse team in La Liga. He was very wary of the Chinese manager, or it could be said that he naturally disliked him. After learning that Moratti was paying attention to Sporting de Gijón's manager, Li Ang, Blanca also curiously paid attention to the Chinese man. Sporting de Gijón's current ranking and results did surprise Blanca. However, what caught Blanca's attention the most was the Chinese man's power in a small club like Sporting de Gijón. It was rumored that this man, as the manager, controlled almost all of Sporting de Gijón's transfer power. Even the team's owner did not succeed in interfering with the team's transfer during the winter transfer. This made Blanca wary and unhappy. He did not like this kind of manager.
Blanca had briefly played for Inter Milan when he was a player, but he accepted an invitation to join the Nerazzurri in the summer of 2002 as the team's manager. A year later, Blanca was promoted to be in charge of the club's recruitment and became the head of the scouting department. In 2004, Blanca was promoted again to Inter Milan's technical director and began to control the transfer power. Objectively speaking, Blanca was more capable, and he himself believed that he had the ability to control everything to help Inter Milan. It was conceivable that he was hostile to anyone who could threaten his transfer power.
In addition, Blanca did not think that Li Ang's qualifications and coaching results were qualified to coach a powerhouse like Inter Milan. He thought that just leading a newly promoted team's dark horse performance for one season was not very convincing.
Whether it was out of selfishness or consideration for the future of Inter Milan, Blanca did not think that the Chinese man was a good choice to coach Inter Milan.
Moratti turned his head to look at the club's general manager, Oriari. The latter stared at the field and thought for a moment before saying, "I think the Spanish team is playing very confidently. Against Parma's tight defense, they seem to be sure to break the goal."
At this time, Li Ang stood up on the field.
"The Chinese man is standing on the sidelines. Let's see if his team will change." Oriari keenly captured this change.
"Maybe he's impatient because he hasn't been able to score for a long time?" Blanca questioned. He decided that he must persuade Moratti to give up that crazy and absurd idea. He could not let Moratti's stubbornness' harm 'Inter Milan.
*****
Listening to Blanca's words, Moratti nodded noncommittally and looked at the field. He was hesitant and self-contradictory in his heart.
The reason for the contradiction was that Inter Milan's current manager, Mancini, was appointed by him. Even Inter Milan's chairman, Facchetti, was not optimistic about Mancini in the beginning. Moratti had to personally persuade Facchetti to support Mancini.
However, Mancini's coaching for more than half of the season could only be said to be very difficult in terms of rankings and results. At least, it was not enough to satisfy Moratti.
In the league, China Inter Milan was 16 points behind AC Milan and Juventus in the league with nine rounds left. It was basically impossible for them to win the league title. Especially in the Milan derby a month ago, Inter Milan lost to their rivals in the same city 0: 1 at home, which made Moratti very dissatisfied.
And just a day ago, the Milan derby was played again in the Champions League, and the result disappointed and dissatisfied Moratti even more.
On April 6, 2005, the 2004-2005 Champions League quarterfinals were played in the Milan derby. In the first round, AC Milan played at their "home ground", San Siro, against their rivals in the same city, Inter Milan. This was the second time in three years that the two powerhouses met in the knockout stage of the Champions League. In the 2002-2003 Champions League semifinals, Milan relied on away goals to eliminate Inter Milan and advanced to the final, eventually winning the title. This game was the 261st Milan derby in history. In the previous 260 Milan derbies, AC Milan had a clear advantage with 101 wins, 72 draws, and 87 losses. Since March 2002, they had been undefeated in eight consecutive derbies. In Moratti's view, this was intolerable. He longed for the team to eliminate AC Milan in the game and take revenge for two years ago. However, in the game, AC Milan relied on goals from Stam and Shevchenko to defeat Inter Milan cleanly at home. They almost had one foot in the Champions League semifinals.
The derby failed again. Under the new and old grudges, Moratti was even more dissatisfied with Mancini.
They had no hope of winning the league title, lost the derbies again and again, and were about to be eliminated in the Champions League. They were eliminated by their rivals in the same city, AC Milan … Moratti was in a terrible mood. The boss, who had poured the most love, energy, and money into Inter Milan, felt bitter.
However, Mancini was the coach that he had personally appointed last summer. Therefore, Moratti was conflicted about whether to change the coach.
Previously, at the Pinenati base, after hearing from Vieri and the others about the dark horse team in the La Liga, Sporting de Gijón, Moratti began to pay attention to the team out of curiosity. He paid attention to the team's manager, Li Ang, who surprised Moratti. He was very curious about the coaching ability of the Chinese coach. Then, he had some admiration and even a whole new level of respect for him.
This time, Sporting de Gijón came to Italy for an away game against Parma. Moratti's heart skipped a beat. He came to the away game to observe the game. He also invited Oriari and Blanca to come along. He wanted to hear the opinions and views of these two senior managers.
What surprised Moratti was that the two men had quite different views on Li Ang. Oriari seemed to be very interested in the Chinese man, while Blanca was against it.
*****
At this time, on the field, after a beautiful pass and cut between Modric and Mata and a cover, the football was at Mata's feet.
This seemed to be a signal. Sporting de Gijón's attacking players in the front field were like a tight spring that was suddenly released. The whole team moved at high speed.
Simplicio was very alert. He rushed up to Mata.
Mata passed the ball to Di Natale. The latter had his back to the team. He knocked the football to Ribéry and ran forward himself. This drove Bowo.
Ribéry directly crossed the ball. Modric, who had run forward before, ran back to receive the ball. He pretended to stop the ball, but he ran over the football.
The one who received the ball was still Mata!
During the whole process of passing and coordination, everything was a pretense. The ultimate threat came from the young Spanish player.
*****
At this time, Blanca continued to express his opinion in the stands. "Moreover, with the level of football in China, it is hard to imagine that they can produce a really high-level coach."
"The style of football in Spain is not very suitable for Inter Milan. The Serie A league is more about tactics. I don't think this Chinese man is a master tactician. "
Blanca repeatedly emphasized to Moratti that the Chinese man did not understand tactics and could not play in the Serie A league, where tactics were unfathomable.
On the field, after this dazzling back and forth pass by the Sporting de Gijón players, the football fell to Mata's feet again. This time, Mata did not directly pass the ball, even though he made a pass.
He knocked the football. He shook off Parma's right back, Bonera, and broke into the penalty area.
This was the characteristic of an attacking midfielder. They were not restricted to the flanks and had a lot of freedom. When they went straight into the middle, it often meant that the opponent was in trouble.
Mata's breakthrough stirred up Parma's rear defensive line into chaos. Young Cannavaro pounced on him. It was at this time that Mata sent a wonderful pass.
In front of the goal, Benzema and Di Natale's running positions in the penalty area, as well as Ribéry's sudden lateral movement on the left, attracted enough attention from Parma's players.
Modric, who plugged in from the back, suddenly appeared in the penalty area and received the ball with a furious shot!
The football plunged into Parma's net like a cannonball!
"Beautiful!" Oriari jumped up and cheered.
Moratti also cheered and stood up to applaud.
The words in Blanca's mouth came to an abrupt halt. He opened his mouth in shock and looked at the field.
PS: Asking for a monthly ticket. Thank you, everyone.
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