Chapter 134: Preparing for a big team! Special training for the Roma team spirit!
At the beginning of the second half, under Mourinho's instructions, Roma's two wing-backs provided more assists.
The main reason was that Udinese had too few effective attacks in the first half, and he wanted to further test the ability to withstand high pressure under the three-center-back system through actual combat.
Sure enough, Udinese took advantage of the vacuum created by Roma's flanks and launched a counterattack, launching several positional battles from the flanks after the start of the second half.
In the 47th minute, Pusetto's cross from the right went directly out of the baseline.
In the 50th minute, Udinese's Brazilian central defender Becao pressed forward and shot high from outside the penalty area.
However, Udinese's attack was limited to this.
Without an absolute speed advantage and the fear of facing intense physical confrontations, Udinese could only make high crosses from the wing, and then the ball ended up in the penalty area because there was no strong center forward.
The opponent's performance not only made the Roma players on the field, but also the substitutes on the bench sigh. The three points in the last game against Verona should not have been lost.
However, Rome is not without its own hidden dangers.
Football fans often hear the term "rich family background", but this term often seems very mysterious and ethereal.
For some first-tier clubs, it's a situation where you think you have it but you don't, or you find out that you do have it but someone else has more.
Inevitably linked to foundation is history, and the foundation of a wealthy family requires a long time to accumulate.
During this process, the club will face a series of pressures, including economic pressure, competitive pressure, fan pressure, public opinion pressure, and internal operational pressure.
When a club overcomes all these and continues to achieve success, its foundation is created.
However, foundation is something that will be consumed. It has its resilience and will not disappear in an instant, but it will also gradually become fragile and blurred due to the failure of the club.
The best example is Liverpool in the Premier League.
The former English overlord reached the European Cup final five times in the nine years between 1977 and 1985, winning the championship four times. Coincidentally, the last championship was won in 1984 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, defeating Roma.
If it hadn't been for the Heysel disaster in 1985, they would probably have won all five.
However, because of this tragedy, all English teams were banned from participating in the three major European cups for five years, causing a group of golden-age players to miss the Champions League platform and never have the chance to continue their glory.
Coupled with the subsequent reform of the Premier League, Manchester United rose completely, and Liverpool's decline lasted for nearly 30 years.
Although there were occasional flashes of brilliance, it was always difficult to stay on the honor roll stably and continuously.
But the club's wealthy heritage is always evident in this club.
No matter how successful Arsenal and Chelsea were once, the Manchester derby is the most important derby in England.
No matter how bad the league results are, there will always be players and coaches willing to come, and capital and sponsors willing to invest.
Even in the most chaotic times, when teams like Everton and Tottenham were ahead of Liverpool, the halo of the giants still shone brightly on this club until John Henry took over Liverpool and brought in Klopp.
Just imagine, one of the important reasons why Klopp, who led a team that reached the Champions League final in Dortmund, chose Liverpool was because it is a wealthy club, right?
The dazzling honors of the ancestors have accumulated a super strong foundation for Liverpool, which can withstand thirty years of ups and downs.
Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, who also won the Champions League, were soon forgotten by the crowd because the honor came too quickly and they lacked the foundation.
From this perspective, it is easy to understand why clubs like Real Madrid and Bayern are always successful, because they not only have a strong foundation, but also rely on the huge advantages brought by this foundation to always attract the best players in the world and continue to achieve success.
Manchester United, which has been in trouble since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, has been known as "Manchester United" in recent years. This is because although they have a strong foundation, they are not on the road to success. Therefore, when competing with other giants for players, they can only attract players to join by offering higher bids and more generous salaries.
Of course, the background is not only reflected off the court, but also in the influence, media, fan base, topic discussion, etc. It can also have a strong psychological deterrent effect on opponents on the court.
For Roma, they obviously have a little foundation, but with the retirement and departure of Totti and De Rossi, the icons of a generation, the word "championship" has become a distant memory, and even many people in the team have not tasted the taste of winning an important championship.
When facing the three giants, whether it is the club itself, the fans or the media, they all think that Roma is a team of a lower level.
How can we win when we feel the situation is grim before we even kick the ball?
Dan Friedman spent a lot of money to invite Mourinho and then spent huge sums of money on signings, just to let this natural winner establish a mentality for the team - a winning mentality, and then rebuild the team's foundation through continuous victories.
At this moment on the field, captain Pellegrini was the first to become impatient.
Faced with Udinese players who have already avoided confrontation and a game that is basically a sure win, the right thing to do at this moment is to maintain the intensity of the confrontation, not giving the opponent hope of counterattack, and then end the game smoothly, rather than increasing the conflict and angering the opponent.
After all, this is a league, and what matters is continuous fighting and getting the most points at the lowest possible cost.
In the 55th minute, facing a non-threatening backcourt pass from the opposing Argentine midfielder Robert Pereira, Pellegrini used excessive physical confrontation and knocked the player down from behind.
The referee showed the yellow card without hesitation.
Looking at Pellegrini who was cursing, Mourinho immediately asked Zaniolo to start warming up.
However, only 4 minutes later, after Deulofeu's shot was blocked by Chen Xiaoliang and bounced into the air, Pellegrini raised his left elbow to hit Udogi's back of the neck during a header in the air.
After Udoji landed, he immediately fell to the ground, looking as if he had been severely beaten, and rolled around in pain.
The referee was standing by and saw it clearly, so he decisively showed the second yellow card.
No matter how Roma's players appealed, the referee would rather give another yellow card to send the appealing player away than to revoke this "absolutely correct" decision.
Before leaving the field, Pellegrini handed the captain's armband to Mkhitaryan.
Barrage:
[If Perez was not a member of Roma's youth training, how could he be the captain? Wouldn't Chen Xiaoliang be a hundred times better as the captain? ]
[There is no way, Roma has this tradition. The three previous captains Totti, De Rossi and Florenzi are all Italians who were born in Rome and grew up in the Roma youth training camp.]
[The four generations of Rome, each generation is inferior to the previous one]
[Previously, some media even claimed that Zaniolo was the fifth generation. Isn't that nonsense? He is the captain and the whole team follows him to lead the team? ]
[A good victory was ruined by a red card. It is really unjust that Roma can win the championship with these players]
…
Mourinho on the sidelines asked Joao to postpone the substitution.
He didn't say much, just like he was standing on the sidelines watching another player who left him speechless, Pogba, playing funny games on the field.
Roma was one man short, and Udinese's morale was boosted.
In the 61st minute, French midfielder Makengo made a straight pass, Udoji shook off Trippi and shot from a small angle, which was slightly off the far post.
In the 67th minute, French right wingback Sopi, who replaced Molina, passed Zalewski on the right and his long shot was slightly high.
Without the attacking midfielder's connection in the midfield, Roma did not organize a threatening ground attack in the ten minutes after Pellegrini was sent off. They only relied on Sesco's excellent ability to receive the ball with his back to the goal and attempted two shots after receiving long passes.
In this situation, Chen Xiaoliang became busy again, blocking the ball in front and behind, tackling on the left and intercepting on the right. The midfielder who ran back and forth in the backcourt following the opponent's offensive direction reappeared in the arena.
Did Udoji just shoot?
It seems that your memory of me is a little vague, so I will use a reasonable collision in the aerial duel to deepen your impression of me.
Does Deulofeu dare to enter the penalty area and try to break through and shoot?
Then I will shovel the ball away from your feet in the penalty area, leaving the referee speechless and making you lose your temper.
The only drawback is that with such a defensive frequency, he does not have any extra time and space to cross the center line and pass the ball to the offensive players.
Udinese coach Luca Gotti wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of having one more player and replaced four new players to narrow the score through physical advantage.
But with Chen Xiaoliang's clearance and the three central defenders fighting hard, there was no chance of a direct pass from the front except for a long shot, and there was no chance of an inverted triangle pass from the wing except for a high ball.
"Did he take any medicine? Did he do a urine test before the game?" Luca Gotti was obviously shocked and angry by Chen Xiaoliang's performance, as if Pellegrini's stupid red card was just to give the midfielder a chance to show off his defensive ability.
His assistant Lorieri whispered to him that after the first round of the league match between Roma and Fiorentina, Fiorentina head coach Italiano clamored for the Fair Play Committee to investigate Chen Xiaoliang's B bottle urine sample. The results showed that there was no problem. Italiano was also warned by the league organizing committee for making groundless accusations against professional players for taking doping at a press conference.
What's more, if Rome really had such a powerful medicine, they wouldn't just give it to a 17-year-old young player from the Red Country...
It is said that after the game, Chen Xiaoliang sent Italiano a box of traditional gifts from the Red Country through Fiorentina defender Milenkovic. No one knows what it was for... Since then, Italiano has never mentioned doping again...
In modern football, whether it is professional leagues, continental cups or national team matches, there are regular urine tests and irregular spot checks. Moreover, the league cycle is so long that continuous inspections and strict penalties make the possibility of doping almost zero.
Moreover, football is all about teamwork and cooperation. It is useless for one person to take medicine. Stimulants can only improve physical strength, but have no effect on improving technology and footwork.
Luca Gotti knew that he was just annoyed for a moment, but the physical fitness and running ability of the Red Country boy in front of him really surprised him.
He complained to his assistant Lorieri, “No wonder some media say he is another Gattuso. Damn, they are exactly the same, but Gattuso was not even half as good as him when he was 17! If this kid can play healthily until he is 20, without short circuiting his brain and not doing things he shouldn’t do, and if he can hone his skills, he will definitely surpass Gattuso!”
Assistant Lorieri knew that Luca Gotti had been transferred to the coaching staff by Italian coach Donadoni as the head coach of Italy U17 during the 2008 European Cup, and had worked with Gattuso in his peak period.
The two looked at the situation on the field and were at a loss as to what to do.
All the players who could be deployed were on the field, but the tough Red Country midfielder was like biting his own nemesis, making it impossible for this team with a relatively weak midfield and frontcourt to play any of the proper offensive coordination.
In the 73rd minute, Mourinho saw that Udinese's three-pronged counterattack was blocked and began to rotate.
Zaniolo replaced Abraham, the 20-year-old American right-back Reynolds, who was newly purchased this season, replaced Mkhitaryan, Cristante replaced Veretout, and Calafiori replaced Zalewski.
The two wingers were re-used to give them another chance to test themselves .
However, the reality still gave Mourinho disappointment. The flanks guarded by the two young players were still attacked by the opponent.
Even Reynolds, who started out as a right-back, is not as good at defensive ability as Mkhitaryan, who started out as a winger at the age of 32.
Fortunately, Udinese's ability to fight in the penalty area was too weak, and repeated headers almost all ended in failure. If there was a player like Milenkovic, the direction of the game would be hard to predict.
In the 88th minute, Roma, who had been defending for a long time, finally got a chance to counterattack. Pereira took the free kick, but was blocked by Chen Xiaoliang who was acting as a human wall. Then he stepped forward and kicked the ball away without caring about the direction.
Unexpectedly, the powerful kick hit the outside of the foot and flew far in the air, drawing a strong arc.
In order to score a goal, Udinese had already pressed forward on all fronts. In the 73rd minute, they replaced the captain and central defender Nudinck with German midfielder Samaradecki to strengthen midfield control.
At this time, only Udogi was guarding Cesco in front of him...
Cesco had already seen through the confrontation between Udoji and Chen Xiaoliang that although this black guy was strong, he was afraid of encountering someone stronger than him.
The two of them pushed each other all the way towards the center line like a kitchen knife cutting electric wires, sparks and lightning.
The referee wanted to blow the whistle several times, but was hesitant because their actions were so covert and frequent.
However, the ball had a strange arc with the outside of the foot, and at first it seemed to be flying towards the left sideline.
Cesco, who had a tacit understanding with Chen Xiaoliang, sensed the path of the ball in advance. After crossing the center line, he took advantage of Udoji looking up at the ball in front of him and ran to the other side in an instant!
Udinese's left-back ran to the front left, trying to control the ball near the sideline, while Cesco ran to the front right, knowing that the ball would spin back in the air!
Seeing this scene, the most confused person was Udinese goalkeeper Silvestri...
At first he didn't know why Cesco was running to his left front. Was this striker stupidly pushed by Udogi?
But just a second and a half later, he regretted not attacking earlier!
I saw Udoji running to the sideline and looked up!
Holy shit! Where’s the ball?!
The Udinese players who were still in the Roma half and had no time to return were already feeling very disappointed, but they were powerless as they were far away.
I can’t catch up even if I chase, and I can’t shout even if I shout…
Cesco was not offside at all and controlled the ball accurately at the landing point, creating a huge one-on-one opportunity!
He didn't even sprint, but simply accelerated forward, observing Silvestri's position and posture all the way!
Seeing that he showed no sign of impatience, Silvestri had no choice but to attack!
Cesco was on the penalty area line, and seeing Silvestri was about 3 meters away from him, he kicked and prepared to shoot!
Silvestri gambled to his right side, which was the far corner of Cesco!
Cesco's angry kicking leg dropped gently and turned into an instep shot, pushing the ball lightly into the near corner.
It was like a pass into the goal.
This is the calmness in front of the goal that only top shooters have!
3 to 0!
The winning goal!
The whole stadium was boiling! Celebrating the 3-pointer !
Silvestri sat on the ground, completely speechless.
Udogi also squatted down. He felt like a funny guy and was laughed at by all the Roma fans in the stadium.
While Cesco pointed at Chen Xiaoliang, he ran towards him!
Scoring two goals alone! The Slovenian teenager is extremely excited!
Before they finished celebrating, the fourth official on the sidelines raised a card, and Mourinho replaced Cesco with Wu Lei. The striker was once again encouraged by applause from the fans!
Barrage:
[What a super arc... This assist can be selected into the top 10 assists of the year in World Football]
[What do you think... Was Chen Xiaoliang's kick a fluke or did he really want to pass the ball that way...]
[Based on his crossing technique, it should be a pass]
[Look at the way he raised his foot just now, it was clearly a way to clear the situation]
[You don’t understand what the above person said. A master can perform hastily and seemingly random movements, but can also involuntarily display real kung fu (I really can’t make it up any more)]
[The King of Wuqiu is here, can you swipe another one? 】
[You think this is a brainless and exciting article? How can football be exciting if goals are so worthless?]
…
Trailing by three goals and unable to break through Roma's goal the entire game, Udinese gave up completely, like a deflated ball.
After four minutes of passing the ball around to kill time, the referee blew the final whistle.
At the post-match press conference, Mourinho did not say much about tonight's opponent Udinese, but once again criticized the league organizing committee.
They will then fly to the Netherlands, 1,200 kilometers away, to participate in the UEFA Europa League group stage, away to challenge Vitesse.
I will rush back immediately after the game and participate in the home league game against Empoli two days later.
He loudly questioned the media why AC Milan, who participated in the Champions League group stage a day earlier than them, could kick off the league later than them, thus having an extra day and a half of rest time.
After finishing his speech at the press conference, Mourinho returned to the locker room and repeated the key points of the game to the players, especially the points that needed to be summarized in the three-center-back defensive system.
As for defending the two flanks, he has completely given up on the current candidates for full-backs and can only hope to have the opportunity to buy one or two people in the winter transfer window.
But before that, he still had an important plan to do.
Unlike usual, Mourinho did not give the main players time to rest the next day. Instead, he came to the club to do low-intensity defensive tactical drills and physical recovery training.
Halfway through the afternoon recovery training, Chen Xiaoliang was called out alone by the young coach Forti who had just joined the coaching team and went to another training ground.
A slightly overweight man wearing the Italian national team training uniform was warming up, or more like playing with a ball.
When he saw Chen Xiaoliang coming, he turned around, but his expression immediately became serious.
He had a thick beard that covered half of his face and was a golden brown in the sunlight, a tall and straight nose that wrinkled slightly in the glare of the sun, making his eyes look even deeper, and short hair.
This man was born and raised in Rome, joined Roma at the age of 16, made his debut for Roma's first team in the Champions League at the age of 17, and played for Roma for a full 18 seasons.
He has won 6 Serie A runner-up titles, 2 Italian Cup titles, 1 Italian Super Cup title, 1 Serie A Young Player of the Year award, and 1 Serie A Local Player of the Year award.
Represented the national team, won the 2006 World Cup and the 2012 European Cup runner-up, and was also selected into the best team in that European Cup!
He is one of Roma's undisputed legendary captains!
Chen Xiaoliang asked Futi excitedly: "Has he also joined the team's coaching staff?"
Forti shook his head: "He was specially invited by the head coach to give you special training."
"Special training?!"
Watching the two whispering, the man shouted to Chen Xiaoliang: "Can you speak Italian?"
Chen Xiaoliang nodded: "Yes sir!"
The man asked, "Do you know who I am?"
Chen Xiaoliang: "Of course sir!"
The man asked again: "Say it out loud, what is my name?"
Chen Xiaoliang looked at the capital D and R on his training suit and shouted, "Yes sir! Your name is De Rossi!"
"Full name! Louder!"
"Yes sir! Your full name is Daniele De Rossi!"
De Rossi kicked a ball to Chen Xiaoliang's feet: "I watched a few of your games, you're not bad. Today Jose asked me to teach you, and for his sake, I agreed. But there's one thing I still don't understand, didn't Gerrard teach you how to attack?"
"Uh..." Chen Xiaoliang was speechless for a moment. He couldn't say that he just didn't have enough points to increase the attribute...
"Sir, are you going to instruct me on the attack?"
De Rossi, with his thick beard, is like a gangster in the Mafia in the movies. He never kills people by himself, but with an elegant murderous aura: "No, if I want to teach you how to attack, it should be Francisco who is here today. Besides, Gerrard didn't teach you how to attack, so what's the point of me coming here?"
"So what do you want to do...?" Chen Xiaoliang asked in confusion.
"Mourinho has never played football, so he understands a lot of things, but he can't teach them. Tell me, what are the problems with this team now?"
Chen Xiaoliang scratched his head: "Uh... I think there are problems everywhere..."
"You...I'm asking you where your biggest problem is!"
"Defense?"
"Yes, you know it."
Then, De Rossi pointed to the positions on the court and began to explain the purpose of his visit. This also started the special training of the club's newcomers by a legendary figure!
