Chapter 11 I want to beat Atletico!
Real Madrid's former president Florentino is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in Spain. He has always had an ambition to become the greatest president in Real Madrid's history, not inferior to Bernabeu.
In order to realize this wish, he formulated a superstar strategy and introduced many superstars, making Real Madrid the most star-studded galactico in the history of world football. At the same time, he also formulated a grand plan to renovate the Bernabeu Stadium.
In recent years, European football teams have become increasingly aware of the importance of commercial development of stadiums, especially giants like Real Madrid. The VIP boxes are a considerable source of income every year, so Florentino wants to move Real Madrid's administrative offices away from the Bernabeu to the north of the Valdebebas training base.
Unfortunately, with Florentino's resignation, this plan had to be suspended.
Therefore, everyone who comes to the gate of Real Madrid's first-team training area can see a large long strip of open space. The surrounding isolation belt also has construction information about Real Madrid's new office building, but there is no sign of construction now.
But for two consecutive days, this place became extremely lively.
It’s not that the project has resumed, but that many Real Madrid fans spontaneously came to Valdebebas to protest the team’s sudden change of coach.
Their demands are simple. The management can change the coach, but at least they should hire a famous coach. How can they let a 25-year-old rookie who has just graduated from school and is unknown to lead Real Madrid?
Wouldn't it be better to let Bosque and Hierro return?
The players usually arrive at the training base around nine o'clock, but the fans arrive more than an hour earlier.
One or two hundred fans stood sparsely at the gate, casually unfurling banners. Only when they saw vehicles coming in or out would they shout a few slogans in unison . Once the vehicles passed, they stopped and started chatting in groups of three or five.
This doesn't look like a demonstration at all, but more like a place for fun.
Of course, according to my deep understanding, many of the Spanish fans' demonstrations are basically like this.
There are also media reporters on the scene. They will not film the entire process. They only need to capture a few photos of fans shouting slogans excitedly and post them in newspapers or on the Internet. Who will know what the scene really looks like?
…
Gao Shen rode his bicycle all the way to the gate of Valdebebas.
Seeing this scene from afar, he was really scared and was considering whether to take a detour.
But soon, he noticed that the protesting fans only blocked the main gate for vehicles to exit, and the small gate next to it for pedestrians to enter and exit was not taken seriously by them at all. Even when Gao Shen approached, no one recognized him.
Another car drove over from a distance, and the demonstrators watched from afar and started shouting.
"Chinese kids get out of the Bernabeu!"
"Real Madrid's history cannot be tarnished, change the coach immediately!"
"We don't accept rookies coaching!"
"Martin: The stupidest president in Real Madrid's history!"
"Chinese, get out! Martin, get off the stage!"
Gao Shen pushed his bicycle and slowly passed the small door next to him. Listening to their uncoordinated slogans, he felt a very absurd feeling in his heart. Are these people really here to protest?
What was even more puzzling was that they completely ignored him.
"Good morning, José."
When Gao Shen passed by the gatekeeper, he habitually greeted the security captain.
"Good morning." The security captain nodded at him.
There was a big commotion outside, but the staff at Valdebebas were pretty nice to Gao Shen, and everyone knew he was innocent.
At least, Gao Shen is still unwilling to move into the office of the Real Madrid head coach.
It's all that damn chairman's fault.
"They..." Gao Shen stopped in front of the security captain, pointed at the protesting fans outside the door and asked.
The security captain smiled and said, "I'm here to protest against you."
Gao Shen knew that he could understand the protest slogans, and there were some harsh words in them, but the problem was...
Perhaps he understood Gao Shen's doubts, the security captain couldn't help laughing again, "I guess they don't know you, and you're wearing a helmet, so..."
The most obvious black hair is covered up, making it even more difficult to recognize.
Gao Shen suddenly smiled bitterly, somewhat awkwardly.
Should we be happy or sad about this?
I was protested by more than 200 people, but none of the protesters recognized me. What kind of logic is this?
"You should be the first Real Madrid coach to ride a bicycle to the training base. They didn't know, so they blocked the car passage. Not to mention them, even many staff members of our Valdebebas didn't know you."
After hearing what the security captain said, Gao Shen shrugged helplessly, "Tell me, should I be happy? Or sad?"
The security captain smiled and said, "Don't think too much. We all know that this has nothing to do with you."
Gao Shen sighed and nodded, but he was secretly happy in his heart.
It turned out that what he had done in the past two days was effective.
People are naturally more likely to sympathize with the disadvantaged.
Just at this moment, Gao Shen saw an Audi driving towards him from afar. From the license plate number, he knew it was Beckham's car, so he said goodbye to the security captain, pushed his bicycle, and headed towards the parking lot.
Seeing Beckham's car, the protesting fans shouted loudly again, but they had no idea that Gao Shen had already quietly walked in right under their noses.
…
Beckham saw Gao Shen pushing a bicycle at the door. After being blocked by fans, he also heard the fans' protests, but he was very confused. Why did the protesting fans allow Gao Shen to enter and exit freely and block themselves instead?
His Spanish was not very good, so he even wondered if he had made a mistake. Was this group of fans not here to protest against Gao Shen, but against the superstar?
After finally entering the door and parking the car in the parking lot, he saw Gao Shen standing not far away looking at him.
They were already face to face, so Beckham couldn't pretend he didn't see it. In addition, he had to pass by Gao Shen to go to the locker room, so he nodded and greeted Gao Shen as usual, saying, "Good morning, Gao."
"Good morning, David." Gao Shen replied.
When Beckham passed by him, Gao Shen spoke again, "Why did they block your car?"
The England star paused and shook his head, "I don't know." There was obvious confusion in his eyes as he looked at Gao Shen.
"They came to protest against me." Gao Shen smiled bitterly, "but... they don't seem to know me."
Beckham thought of the absurd scene just now and couldn't help but smile.
But if you think about it carefully, it is indeed the case.
Who would have thought that the head coach of Real Madrid would ride a bicycle to work?
Not to mention anything else, the sponsor Audi has provided special cars for the first-team players and head coach, but Gao Shen obviously does not have one.
In fact, he is still on an intern contract, not even the most basic formal coaching contract.
Thinking about it now, Beckham suddenly felt that Gao Shen was also very wronged. He was just a college graduate and came to Real Madrid for an internship for a period of time, but he had to deal with such a disaster. How unlucky was he?
Gao Shen graduated from Loughborough University, which is near London, and Beckham is also from England and his home is also near London, which makes them feel somewhat close and they can occasionally chat with each other on weekdays.
In Real Madrid, there are very few people who can communicate with Beckham in English.
"Don't think too much. We all know that this matter has nothing to do with you." Beckham tasted a kind of sadness from Gao Shen's bitter smile and couldn't help but persuade him, "I believe that things will pass quickly. When the time comes, you can change teams and start over."
"After something like this, what team can I join?" After a pause, Gao Shen looked up at Beckham, "Or, can you recommend one to me when the time comes?"
"That's no problem." Beckham agreed readily . "With your academic qualifications, it will be no problem for you to intern at a Premier League team. I'll help you make the contact when the time comes."
After saying this, the England midfielder responded with a friendly smile of encouragement.
In fact, everyone who has gotten to know Beckham knows that he is actually a very nice person.
"It's just... I'm a little unwilling!" Gao Shen suddenly gritted his teeth.
"Unwilling?" Beckham was stunned.
"I feel like a chess piece, being manipulated back and forth. It's clearly not my problem, but everyone is blaming me." While speaking, Gao Shen had been paying attention to the changes in Beckham's expression. After noticing a hint of emotion, he immediately changed the subject.
"It's like you. After you came to Real Madrid in 2003, the team has not won the championship. Everyone points the finger at you and scolds you. Do you think this is fair? Are you convinced? Don't you feel a little bit unwilling?"
The topic was obviously about Gao Shen, but suddenly it shifted to himself. Beckham was a little caught off guard, but what Gao Shen said hit the nail on the head.
Like Gao Shen, he was full of reluctance.
Why are you scolding me?
Is it all my fault?
Gao Shen saw Beckham's expression and understood.
In the first half of 2007, one of the important reasons why Beckham continued to fight hard in Real Madrid after being banned by Capello and deciding to move to the United States was that he was angry.
For four years, everyone blamed Beckham for the failure of the superstar strategy. During those years, how many people ridiculed Beckham as a useless person, a hyped-up star, and a good-looking but useless loser?
It was with this spirit that Beckham withstood all the pressure, completely changed everyone's impression of him within half a year, and won his first championship at Real Madrid. At the same time, it also made Capello regret abandoning Beckham and Real Madrid regret letting him transfer.
Now, Gao Shen's words immediately ignited the fire in Beckham's heart.
"From the time Bosque resigned to the departure of Makelele and Hierro, Real Madrid's offense and defense have been in a state of disorder. Queiroz's transformation was not successful. There were too many individualistic and lone-fighting superstars in the frontcourt, which led to the team's overall tactical imbalance and out-of-control defense. This is not your responsibility, but why should you bear so much abuse and accusations?"
"David, have you never thought about making all those who insult and accuse you regret it? Have you never thought about proving your strength and value to the world? Are you willing to let the world continue to misunderstand you like this?"
Beckham looked at the man in front of him in amazement. He really felt like he was being enlightened.
Has he ever thought about it?
I have thought about it, I have definitely thought about it, it is impossible not to think about it.
Is it possible?
The answer is, he doesn't know.
"What do you want to do?" Beckham quickly calmed down and asked.
Gao Shen stared at Beckham with his eyes full of determination and resoluteness.
"I need your help, I want to beat Atletico!"
