Raúl González regretted it now. If he had retired a year later, he might have been able to use the club's 10th European Champions Cup as a retirement gift. Now he was the manager of Real Madrid and was mainly responsible for the communication between the top management and the players. Most of the time, he was in the team, like a player in a suit.
When the team trained, he stood on the sidelines and watched with Manager Michels. He did not express his opinion unless Michels asked him.
But today he was a little more talkative.
"Michels, tomorrow's game …" Raúl frowned.
"Do you want to ask me how confident I am to win?" Michels smiled. "I don't know."
"No, I'm worried that Nottingham Forest's style of play will restrain the style we are good at." Raúl shook his head gently.
Michels heard him say this and was stunned for a moment. Then he said, "This is a problem … But Real Madrid's football is like this. No matter what kind of opponent we face, we always play with our style. Do you have any suggestions, Raúl? "
Raúl obviously did not have any good suggestions. He shook his head and stopped talking.
"Our scouts have come up with the latest information on the Forest team. They unexpectedly used an all-out attack in the first half of the FA Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur. I think it may have something to do with us." Michels was still talking to himself. He suddenly turned to look at Raúl. "Maybe Twain wants to attack us at the Bernabéu."
Raúl, who was focused on observing the team's training, was shocked by his words.
"Attack each other?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he laughed. "That's crazy."
Yes, there were not many teams in the world that dared to attack Real Madrid at the Bernabéu. Maybe Barcelona was one. But definitely not Nottingham Forest.
"I don't think it's possible … Forest's specialty is defensive counterattack. Manager Twain has always believed that champions come from defense. It's impossible for him to attack us in such an important game. The possibility of defensive counterattack is very high. "
Michels looked at Raúl and laughed. "Why didn't you choose to be a manager after you retired, Raúl?"
"Me?" Raúl did not react for a moment when he was suddenly asked such a question. "I don't think I'm suitable to be a manager."
"You're not a manager. You can be the head of youth training … If you want, I can recommend you to Mr. President. "
"It's not the difference between a manager and a coach." Raúl thought about it and said, "At Real Madrid, I think it's too tiring and too difficult to be a coach …"
He did not finish his sentence, but Michelle already knew what he was trying to say. He nodded in silence.
Raul had come to the point. Although Míchel had done well at Real Madrid over the past few years, he had always been subject to the checks and balances of the club's top management. Although this was the tradition of most Spanish clubs, in a powerhouse team like Real Madrid, the manager was particularly restricted. Regarding the transfer of players, he only had the right to make suggestions and not the right to make decisions. There were too many factors for a club like Real Madrid to consider when buying a player, and the competitive aspect became less important.
In the management of the locker room, the manager's actions were also limited. Locker room factions were inevitable in any powerhouse team, but in this regard, the Premier League managers did better than them, because the Premier League managers had absolute authority, and the factions in the locker room could not fight against a manager. The authority of the Premier League manager came from their football tradition and the support of the club's top management. The players were like a group of children under the manager, and they were in awe of the boss. The coaches of La Liga were in a more miserable state. If they had a rift with a certain faction, then their authority would be greatly challenged. Coupled with the club's top management's petty tricks behind the scenes, the manager was sandwiched between the top management and the players, and he could not please either side.
Míchel was doing well at Real Madrid now because he had a good general manager — Valdano. Thinking about the former Mijatović, being a manager under him was simply a kind of torture. Valdano knew that the appropriate delegation of power was good for the team, and he would not make things difficult for the manager on the transfer list. Therefore, there was the revival of Real Madrid.
Otherwise, this team might fall in the top eight of the Champions League consecutively, and that would be the laughing stock of the century.
Míchel and Raúl both put these problems to the back of their minds. They did not need to have such worries now. Otherwise, they would not be able to enter the Champions League final. Tomorrow's game was a good opportunity to prove the value of Real Madrid to the world, and an opportunity for Florentino to rebuild the Real Madrid empire. They could not lose such a game.
※ ※ ※
Twain did not have time to talk about the hardships of being a manager with the people around him. He was leading the team to practice the tactics of place kicks. In important games, place kicks were absolutely a part that could not be ignored. Twain predicted that the team would face a lot of pressure in the game against Real Madrid at the Bernabéu, and place kicks might be the key to knocking on the door of Real Madrid.
After all, the team had Gareth Bale, a good free kick player.
Kerslake explained the cooperation of attacking place kicks to the players on the field, and the coaching staff designed many sets of place kick tactics, hoping that they could be used in the game.
The team's training place was the Bernabéu stadium, and it could be considered as training to adapt to the ground.
The turf at the Bernabéu was slightly better than that at the City Ground, but there was no obvious difference. Moreover, Twain could not guarantee that the stadium workers would not splash too much water on the turf during the game the next day.
The reporters had been chased away by him, and the team's current training contents must not be known by outsiders. For this reason, he especially emphasized to the Bernabéu that he did not want any equipment at the Bernabéu to capture their training contents. After all, this was Real Madrid's home ground, and it was hard to guarantee that Real Madrid would not play tricks. His repeated reminders and insistence angered the Bernabéu staff. In their eyes, Tang En's actions were completely questioning their professional ethics. Moreover, Real Madrid was a club that placed great importance on its own reputation. They clearly told Tang En that the Real Madrid Football Club would not stoop to such despicable acts.
Only then did Twain shamelessly give up his insistence.
This was really a typical example of measuring the heart of a gentleman with one's own yardstick — I always do this in the City Ground, there is no reason why other clubs would not do the same.
But in reality, the Real Madrid Football Club did not plant any cameras or send people to spy on them at the Bernabéu. Just as the staff said, the great Real Madrid would not stoop to using such despicable methods to help the team achieve victory.
Twain still kept glancing at the stands, searching for suspicious people.
※ ※ ※
At the afternoon press conference, Twain was "besieged" by the Spanish media.
The Spanish and English media were clearly divided into two factions. The Spanish media were keen on asking questions that made Twain feel embarrassed, such as: "The outside world is unanimously optimistic that Real Madrid will win the championship. May I ask if you will be affected by this prediction?"
Another example: "The outside world is criticizing Nottingham Forest's football for being conservative and utilitarian. Will you consider changing this situation?"
The Spanish media had clearly studied Tony Twain and knew that he was a hot-tempered person who spoke without thinking. Therefore, deliberately provoking him could achieve a miraculous effect, and they could obtain some very interesting news.
But their research was not professional. They only wanted to provoke Twain, but they forgot that Twain was not a hedgehog who would curl up to defend himself when he was besieged. He was a cunning wolf. If you dared to provoke him, you had to be prepared to suffer his wrath.
Twain was very dismissive of the first question. "The outside world is optimistic about Real Madrid, so Real Madrid will definitely win the championship? Then let's not play in this Champions League final and just let the outside world announce that Real Madrid has won the championship, okay? "Twain spread his hands and looked coldly at the Spanish reporters.
Such a rhetorical question made the Spanish reporters feel embarrassed.
As for the second question, Twain pretended to be surprised. "Why should I change this situation? I can win the championship now. Why should I give up the championship to satisfy the wishes of the outside world? I don't think … anyone in their right mind would make such a choice, right? "
When he said this, he stared at the reporter who asked the question with a smile, as if to say to him: "Only a person like you, who is not in his right mind, can ask such a retarded question, Mr. Reporter."
The Spanish reporter's face turned red and white, and he finally sat down angrily.
"But it doesn't mean that you can't win the championship if you play beautifully, Mr. Twain." Another reporter stood up.
How was this a press conference? This was clearly the Champions League version of a war of words.
"I don't have to choose a riskier way to win the championship. Besides, in my opinion, playing beautifully is equal to being the runner-up. " Twain was deliberately trying to annoy the Spaniards who appeared a little arrogant because they had the home advantage.
Fortunately, Michele had already ended his press conference. Otherwise, it would be hard to say what kind of conflict there would be when the two sat together.
"So are you hinting that your tactics tomorrow will be defensive counterattack?" A balding middle-aged man stood up and asked with a slightly smug look on his face. He still managed to catch the Forest team's tactics for the next day.
Twain certainly knew what he was thinking. He wanted to take advantage of the chaos to find out about his tactics tomorrow. No way! "That's hard to say. Maybe I'll go all out tomorrow?" Twain spread his hands. "Besides, don't you think I only know how to defend and counterattack? Oh, I think it's quite interesting to have an offensive battle with Real Madrid … "
"Don't you want the championship, Mr. Twain?" The middle-aged man's expression did not change as he continued to bicker with Twain.
"Of course I want it. Why wouldn't I? "
"Then you said playing beautifully is equal to being the runner-up …" The man, who thought he had caught Twain's weakness, laughed. Around him, many people laughed along. These were the Spanish reporters.
In their minds, it was a vicious cycle — Tang En thought that if he played well, he would not be able to win the championship. But if he wanted to win the championship, then he must be playing conservative football. But he did not admit that he was playing conservative, and he even said that he wanted to go head to head with Real Madrid. Then let's see how he smoothed things out!
Unexpectedly, Twain looked relaxed and said calmly, "I'm still confident that I can win against Real Madrid."
As soon as the words came out, the reporters present, whether they were Spanish or English, were shocked.
A reporter wanted to ask, but Twain stood up and signaled that the press conference was over.
"Mr. Twain …"
"Mr. Twain, please wait!"
"Coach Twain …"
"Hey, Tony!"
The group of reporters panicked. So what were they doing before? Bickering with Twain, and what was left of them except for a mouthful of hair?
※ ※ ※
David Kerslake sat in the guest room, tasting the fragrant coffee while flipping through the newspaper with his glasses. Of course, he did not know anything about Spanish, but fortunately, there were enough pictures to pass the time. It was better than nothing.
"Half of it is football, and the other half is bullfighting. The Spanish people's hobbies are really poor …"
The assistant coach mumbled to himself. Suddenly, he heard the sound of the door lock. He raised his head in alarm and stared at the door with a burning gaze. He saw the door slowly slide open, and then a hand reached in. The fingertips made a few fancy gestures, and then with a quick shake, a scarlet cloak magically flung out.
The door to the room opened. Tang En proudly held his head high as he danced into the room with a rumba rhythm. He was even humming a tune like "One dada, two dada". His strong and tall body spun two rounds on the spot before he suddenly made his appearance. "Ah ho! Come on! Madrid Bull! "
The poor assistant manager's head jerked forward, and the coffee in his mouth sprayed onto the newspaper in his hands and the table. Some of it flowed down the corner of his mouth and chin, dripping onto the newspaper in his hands. Ribéry was grinning at Kerslake on the newspaper, and a drop of black coffee landed on his white teeth, making it look like he was missing a tooth …
Kerslake frantically wiped the coffee off the corner of his mouth and chin, and then messily rubbed the newspaper to wipe the table. He asked Twain, "Did you go to the bullfighting show in the afternoon?"
"No, I went to buy this on the way after the press conference." Twain shook the cloak in his hands, which made a rustling sound.
"A tourist souvenir …?"
Twain shook his head and smiled. "Isn't the souvenir the Champions League? I have a special use for this. "He then did a bullfighter's signature move. He waved to the left, then to the right, then turned around elegantly, as if a raging bull had just brushed past him. The wind that he fanned ruffled Kerslake's hair. "What do you think of my learning?"
"I've never seen such an old bullfighter." Kerslake finally finished cleaning up the mess in front of him. He looked at Twain and smiled. "What are you planning to do with it?"
"Secret. Secret." Twain winked at him, and then he smiled happily.
※ ※ ※
PS: The author's words:
Recently, there have been quite a few slightly sad comments in the book review section, saying that the Champion Godfather is coming to an end … I am very grateful for my friends' concern for the Champion Godfather, but … this really makes me not know whether to laugh or cry. Before this volume, I said that according to my outline, there are two more volumes of the Champion Godfather. This is only the seventh volume, and there's still an eighth volume to be written … How can it end here?
Please don't be anxious, everyone. I plan to finish this book this year, but with my habit of procrastinating, I plan to try my best to finish it before the end of the year …
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