Chapter 15 The Invisible Man
Barcelona, Spain.
After the afternoon training session, Barcelona Sports City became quiet again.
The lights in head coach Van Gaal 's office were still on.
The day after tomorrow, his team will travel to Madrid to challenge Atletico Madrid away.
Van Gaal is not afraid of the Colchoneros at all, even on the road.
He coached Atletico Madrid for three seasons and once lost 2:5 away from home, but that was when the team had already won the league championship. Van Gaal went to the away game with a substitute lineup and was stunned by Vieri's brace and assist.
But overall, Van Gaal's Barcelona still has a great advantage against Atletico Madrid.
This time, he believed it was the same.
Especially after Antic was dismissed, Atletico Madrid has run out of ideas and has completely given up on this season.
But even so, Van Gaal still dared not be careless.
Barcelona’s current situation is not very good and it urgently needs a victory, preferably a complete victory, to boost the team’s morale.
But the funny thing is that everyone at Barcelona, no, maybe even the entire European football world, and even the whole world, knows nothing about Atletico Madrid's new head coach. They have no idea what he did before, what he has done, and what his strengths are.
The only thing reported by the media was that he went to meet Florentino, was ridiculed and mocked by Florentino, and then kicked him out.
God knows how he became the head coach of Atletico Madrid?
But precisely because of this, the whole world is very unfamiliar with the new Atletico Madrid coach.
No one knows what tactics he likes, what type of players he likes to use, and how he might arrange his troops.
We can only guess!
Van Gaal is a head coach with a strong desire for control and he doesn't like to guess.
Especially this kind of guess has no scientific basis.
…
Just when Van Gaal was having a headache, someone knocked on the office door from outside.
In walked his assistant coach, Portuguese José Mourinho.
The 37-year-old young man is very decisive in his work. Although they often have disputes, Van Gaal still relies on and trusts him very much.
When coaching Barcelona, Van Gaal had three assistants. Ronald Koeman and Gerard van der Lem both went out to coach alone. Now only Jose Mourinho is left, and it is estimated that he will go solo sooner or later.
"What's the matter, Jose?" Van Gaal asked as he watched him come in.
"Beybul is injured."
"Is he really injured?" Van Gaal was a little surprised at first, then he felt happy and smiled.
"The information our scouts received was indeed correct. He was taken off the pitch midway through the match against Deportivo La Coruna not to prepare for the King's Cup, but because he was injured. According to reliable information we received, he missed training this afternoon due to injury."
Mourinho also looked very happy.
This Bejbul is a stalwart midfielder with excellent defensive ability. Without him, how can Atletico Madrid fight Barcelona?
After hearing this, Van Gaal was basically convinced.
With two games in a week, every training session is crucial.
No head coach would be stupid enough to deliberately let players miss training to create a smokescreen.
Beybul's absence from training only proves that he is indeed injured.
"Then we have to change our plans a little bit."
As Van Gaal spoke, he walked back to his desk and did not sit down. Instead, he looked at a match chart in front of him, which showed the starting lineups of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
Of course, this is just speculation by Van Gaal and his assistants.
In the past two days, Atletico Madrid's training has continued the arrangement of Antic, so it is very likely that the game will be the same.
442, the goalkeeper is still Molina, the defense line from left to right is Capdevila, Santi Denia, Carlos Gamarra and Gaspar, the midfield is Solari, Belleron, Beybl and Aguilera, and the two forwards are Kiko and Hasselbaink.
But now, Van Gaal reached out and took down the chess piece representing Bejbl.
"Who do you think he'll use? Baraja? Fresnedoso? Hugo Leal? Or Oscar Menez?"
Van Gaal asked for several names in one breath, all of them were Atletico Madrid's midfielders, and he knew them all by heart.
This is his responsibility as the head coach. He always studies his opponents very thoroughly.
"You seem to look down on Ventolin." Mourinho said this suddenly.
Van Gaal was so amused that he burst into laughter, and both of them burst into laughter.
Beybul is extremely important to Atletico's midfield. It can even be said that Atletico's defense depends on Beybul.
Now that the Czech player is injured, how can Atletico Madrid still fight against Barcelona?
"I'm thinking, should we play more aggressively?" Mourinho suggested.
Van Gaal looked at his assistant and shook his head secretly.
After all, they are young people, everything about them is good, except that their ideas are sometimes too radical.
At this time, the most important thing for Barcelona is to win a victory steadily to ease the pressure the team is facing, and not always want to make a big deal.
"Jose, I think if you have the opportunity to coach alone in the future, you will definitely be more adventurous than me," Van Gaal said with a smile.
This wasn't the first time Van Gaal had said this, and Mourinho laughed along.
He does feel that his coaching philosophy does contain the genes for playing offensive football.
"You're just watching the fun, not afraid of getting into trouble. I can't do that. I have to consider the overall situation."
Seeing that he was smiling with some complacency, Van Gaal immediately cursed him with a smile.
"Let Cocu start at centre-back and Guardiola at number four. We'll try to win the game in one away game!"
This is also the result of Van Gaal's careful consideration.
Barcelona's central defenders are also at a disadvantage in terms of height, and Cocu is relatively tall.
Moreover, as a versatile player, Cocu has good offensive power. Sitting in the back line, he can effectively help the team move forward, suppress Atletico's overall formation, and allow the midfield and frontcourt to better reap the results.
After hearing this, Mourinho immediately nodded in agreement and wrote it down in his notebook.
"Still haven't heard anything about Atletico Madrid's new head coach?" Van Gaal suddenly asked.
Mourinho shook his head. "No, there was no news from the media, so they just ignored it."
Van Gaal couldn't help but smile. It was a bit strange that even the media couldn't find out any information.
"I heard a reporter from Daily Sports mention that man appeared out of nowhere, which was very strange. All I can find out now is that he accidentally fell into the water in Madrid a few months ago and was rescued."
"Then, I tried to trick Florentino, but was driven away by him, and then this happened."
Van Gaal nodded. "Where did he get his coaching certificate?"
Other things can be forged, but certificates can’t be forged, right?
"You're right, his credentials are genuine. UEFA and the Coaches Association all have relevant records, but no one can remember when such a person existed. Isn't that strange?"
"What about the Cologne Sports Academy? Didn't they say he graduated from the Department of Sports Management?" Van Gaal was even more puzzled.
"Yes, some reporters did investigate. There was this person, and he did graduate, but no one remembers him. Even the teachers weren't sure if he ever attended classes."
When Van Gaal heard this, he began to wonder if he was watching a thriller.
“Isn’t this person’s presence too low?”
"He's like an invisible man. If he hadn't been brought to light this time, no one would have remembered he existed. Some reporters even went to interview Florentino, but guess what, how did Florentino respond?"
"Don't remember?" Van Gaal laughed.
"Yes, Florentino said directly, who? I don't know this person!"
They both burst into laughter.
Atletico Madrid's new coach really has a very low presence and is being ignored to this extent.
But this also went a step further, making all the media reporters believe that he was really the unlucky guy pushed by Atletico Madrid to bear the stigma of relegation.
Otherwise, how to explain why Atletico Madrid would choose such a person as head coach?
"I can fully imagine the chaos and panic in Atletico Madrid's dressing room at this moment. I think they should be in the Copa del Rey semi-finals."
Mourinho looked deeply at Van Gaal.
In the three years since he coached Barcelona, Van Gaal has won the La Liga title for two consecutive years. Although he has not made any breakthroughs in the Champions League, his achievements are outstanding. However, he may not be able to snatch the league title from Deportivo La Coruna this year.
If they can win the Copa del Rey, Van Gaal should be able to keep his position as coach.
At least, winning the championship every year is enough.
Van Gaal certainly understood what Mourinho meant, but the rebellious Dutchman was not interested in using this method to stay in office.
Mourinho...
"Jose, I heard that a Portuguese Super League team is interested in you?" Van Gaal suddenly asked.
Mourinho didn't hide it and nodded directly, "I'm still thinking about it."
"Go ahead. After the end of this season, when there is an opportunity to coach alone, just go!" Van Gaal advised.
He always felt that Mourinho was unwilling to be inferior to others, and the reason he was able to be his assistant for three years was more because he was learning things.
You've learned enough, and sooner or later you'll have to go solo.
"I'll think about it again. I'm a little worried," Mourinho said with a wry smile.
Van Gaal laughed out loud. "He won't be like Atletico Madrid's new coach, will he?"
Mourinho immediately laughed again, "Not really, not really, I'm not that miserable yet."
As an assistant coach of Barcelona, if he goes out to coach alone, it should at least be a strong team in the Portuguese Super League, and he will definitely be able to handle it on his own.
With Atletico Madrid's new coach taking the blame like this, Mourinho might as well stay at Barcelona.
…
While Van Gaal and Mourinho were in Barcelona Sports City, teasing the Atletico Madrid coach whose name they couldn't even pronounce, Yang Hao was still working overtime at the Majadahonda training base.
He had just met with several first-team players who were about to start, listened to their opinions and ideas, and also explained his tactics and ideas for this game, as well as some tactical routines he wanted to use against Barcelona.
After the meeting, he specifically kept Baraja and Pablo Garcia and gave them private instructions.
Especially Pablo Garcia.
"You all said that you are willing to fight for me. Now, the opportunity to fulfill your promise has come!" Yang Hao stared at the two of them and said harshly.
