Chapter 160: The Madman's Past
After a night's rest, the team had no spare time and immediately set off for the airport and flew to Venice, the water city in northern Italy, to challenge the Venice team away.
Chen Xiaoliang also won the best player of October and completed the task of [winning the league's monthly best player] for the first time in Serie A, and was rewarded with an injury recovery card.
Injury Recovery Card 1→2
In the league standings, Venice currently has 2 wins, 3 draws and 6 losses, ranking 17th with 9 points, and the relegation situation is very serious.
On the contrary, for Roma, which is fighting for the top four, it currently has the same points as Inter Milan in fourth place and is 6 points ahead of Atalanta in fifth place, which has widened the gap.
Unexpectedly, after landing at Marco Polo International Airport, hundreds of Mourinho's local fans in Venice gathered at the airport to welcome the arrival of the Roma team.
He has fans wherever he goes, and this is something Mourinho is quite proud of.
Mourinho gave all the players who have played more than 10 times this season a holiday. He simply asked them to follow the main team to the Pierluigi Benzema Stadium, walk around the field to familiarize themselves with the environment, and then take the bus back to the hotel to rest.
This stadium is the smallest among all Serie A teams, with a capacity of only 11,150 people, 362 fewer than the 11,512 people at the Alberto Picco Stadium, the home stadium of Spezia, which ranks second from the bottom, and successfully "won the championship".
This game was arranged as a special match in this round. In order to attract Asian fans to watch, the kick-off time was 13:30 noon, which was the prime time of the Red Country at 19:30.
After entering the stadium, the whole place was packed. In addition to some people with connections who were secretly allowed in by the home team and were standing under the stands to watch the game, as well as reporters, staff from both teams, players, coaches, referees, and stadium security and maintenance staff, there were more than 12,000 people crowded in the stadium, making it packed.
In the starting lineup, Mourinho continued to make large-scale rotations and formed a 3-5-2 formation. He also wanted to take advantage of the opponent's relatively weak opportunities to try different styles of play.
The goalkeeper is still the unshakable Patricio;
The three central defenders from left to right are Ibanez, Kumbulla and Mancini, among whom Albania international Kumbulla made his first start this season;
Among the five midfielders, Veretout and Cristante were sent as double defensive midfielders, and Chen Xiaoliang was placed on the bench;
The left midfielder is El Shaarawy, who has not played for a long time, and the right midfielder is Karsdorp;
Pellegrini in the middle of the midfield;
The two forwards are Abraham and Carles Perez.
When the media obtained this starting list before the game, it was clear that Mourinho had rotated all the main players who were going to participate in national team competitions.
Because the next game is on November 21, which means that in 14 days, the players participating in national team competitions will have to play two World Cup qualifiers.
Especially players like Cesco, who have been identified as the main players of the Slovenian national team, will play against Slovakia and Cyprus on the 12th and 14th respectively.
Therefore, these 14 days do not mean a vacation for some players, but rather they have to face long-distance travel and intensive back-to-back games.
If he doesn't take a rest, he will probably be injured when the national team competition is over.
However, Chen Xiaoliang, who had no national team match mission, was given a rest by Mourinho because of a set of technical statistics.
In terms of the average running distance per game of all Serie A players, Chen Xiaoliang ranked first with an average of 13.32 kilometers per game, far ahead of Inter Milan's Brozovic's 12.19 kilometers and Lazio's Milinkovic-Savic's 11.86 kilometers.
No matter how good Chen Xiaoliang is at running, the coaching staff will have to find ways to give him a rest when they see the way he runs, although his importance to the team is beyond words.
However, without Chen Xiaoliang, Roma still suffered a heavy blow from the relegation team.
Just two minutes into the game, Venice took a free kick from the left. After the ball was passed to the middle of the penalty area, central defender Caldara easily kicked the ball into the goal under the double-team of Kumbulla and Mancini.
The two central defenders made the same old mistake. Kumbulla thought Mancini would try to steal the ball, and Mancini thought Kumbulla would try to steal the ball. In the end, neither of them tried to steal the ball.
Caldara was under almost no defensive pressure and scored the ball from an angle away from Patricio.
Mourinho, who was standing on the sidelines, was so angry that he threw away the water bottle in his hand and received a warning from the fourth official for this.
The fans of Venice were so happy, they never dreamed of such a dream start!
The Serie A director immediately turned the camera to Chen Xiaoliang who was sitting on the field.
This free kick happened to be given to the opponent when Pellegrini was thrown away by the opponent's winger Alamu in the middle, and then Veretout, who had just recovered from a concussion, was forced to foul when defending.
No matter how dissatisfied Mourinho is, he can't make a substitution in the third minute of the game...
The Roma players also knew what it meant to be brave after knowing shame, and immediately launched a full-scale attack.
In the 7th minute, Cristante made a long pass from the backcourt, Pellegrini headed the ball back from the right side of the penalty area, and Karsdorp received the ball and passed it directly to Abraham who was running at high speed!
Seeing his number of goals and Cesco's number increasing, Abraham played harder and harder. With a stride of his long black legs, he instantly surpassed the surrounding defenders.
Seeing that he was about to get the ball in the penalty area, Venice defender Hasp had no choice but to make a tackle.
As soon as Abraham's foot touched the ball, he tripped and fell to the ground, rolling three times before he got up.
The referee immediately pointed to the penalty kick!
Although the Venice players knew that they were not as skilled as their opponents, they were not prepared to surrender.
They immediately surrounded the referee to complain! While the Roma players secretly celebrated on the side.
Just as Pellegrini picked up the ball and placed it on the penalty spot, the referee made a gesture to change the decision!
Pellegrini was already offside when he received the long pass from Cristante, so the penalty was invalid!
Now, it was the Venetian players who applauded and celebrated, while the Roma players surrounded the referee...
Pellegrini, in particular, loudly questioned the referee Aureliano.
The goal he lost just now was due to his eye defense, and the penalty he got was missed because he was offside...
The referee Aureliano was very restrained and just gestured to Pellegrini to calm down and return to his position as soon as possible to resume the game.
Fortunately, he was not the referee of the previous game, Maresca, otherwise Pellegrini would have been given a yellow card by now.
Looking at the chaos on the field and Pellegrini's gaffe as the captain, Joao frowned and stood beside Mourinho and said, "Jose, are you really not considering letting Chen Xiaoliang be the captain?
You know the actual situation of the team. I don't know what happened when you were at Chelsea, Inter Milan and Real Madrid, but at least in my opinion, Chen's influence on the team's locker room is something I have never seen since I started coaching. But he is young and cannot speak freely in the locker room like those veterans. If you give him the status of captain, he can legitimately lead these young guys. "
Mourinho shook his head: "How long do you think he will stay in Rome? For life?"
João shook his head, indicating that it was unlikely.
Mourinho asked again: "How long do you think you, me, and Lapetti and the others, our team of six, will stay here? Five years? Ten years?"
João shook his head again, but this time he said he didn't know.
The competitive pressure in professional football is very, very high. Even if you are a champion coach like Ancelotti or Klopp who is currently in high spirits, you may face unprecedented pressure due to a series of defeats or no wins in a series of competitions.
It is not uncommon for a player who has just led the team to win the Champions League in the previous season to be fired by the board of directors in the next season because the team fails to win any of the four major titles.
Italian coach Claudio Ranieri led Leicester City to a dream win of the Premier League title, but was kicked out the next season due to a decline in performance. Even the fans knew that the team's performance declined because the main players were bought at high prices and the team's lineup depth was not enough to support the dual-front battle of the Champions League and the league.
However, the board of directors will not give you any excuses. They will only hypocritically write in the external announcement: "Thank you for the unremitting efforts of XXX during this period, and wish him all the best in the future."
Mourinho and his team did not last more than three seasons in their second spell at Chelsea, and later at Manchester United and Tottenham. Who knows how long they can stay in Rome?
Mourinho lowered his voice but said seriously:
“Why don’t you let Chen be the first captain? Because I know he won’t stay here long, and your and my fate is not entirely up to ourselves.
This Roma will eventually return to the hands of the Italians and the Romans. This is their team and we are just passers-by.
Everyone knows that the leader of AC Milan's locker room is the man named Zlatan, but Pioli will not give him the captaincy because of this. If Romagnoli can play, he is the first captain. If Romagnoli cannot play, even if the team has 11 people from 11 different countries like in the last game, the captain will still be the only Italian, Calabria.
This is Italy, this is their 'glorious tradition'.
Roma went one step further. Do you think Fonseca didn't know he was not a suitable captain? Moreover, Florenzi was still in the team and had not been loaned out.
But he is a native Roman and a product of the club's youth training camp, so he is the best candidate to inherit their 'tradition'."
João hesitated for a few seconds, lingered on his lips for a while, and finally asked: "Jose, breaking traditions is not your habit?"
“It’s not that easy.”
Mourinho did not respond to this topic any further and just let the words rot in his stomach.
He also wanted Chen Xiaoliang to be the captain and Patricio to be the vice-captain to completely complete the reform and transformation of the team.
If he were 10 years younger, he would definitely do the same.
But at this time, he had much more to bear than the fledgling Gerrard.
In the Scottish Premier League, on a platform like Rangers where the spotlight is not focused, Gerrard has too much autonomy and space. He can boldly carry out his own experiments and creativity. The worst that can happen is that if he fails, he can just find a small or medium-sized team to coach.
There are many examples of legendary players coaching like this. Xavi of Barcelona is one of them. He trained for a year and a half in a team like Al Sadd in Qatar, which was not even as good as Rangers, and then came back to become the head coach of one of the biggest clubs in the world.
The same example is Zidane, who was promoted directly from Real Madrid B team and was even exempted from the leveling process;
Lampard, who coached Derby County in the Championship, failed to get promoted to the Premier League, but still got the head coaching position at Chelsea;
And then there is Mourinho's least favorite person - Guardiola. His first job was Barcelona B, a reserve team in the Spanish Third Division... and the next year he became the head coach of Barcelona;
What's more, like Pochettino, his first coaching job was the assistant coach of the Espanyol women's football team... Only one month after taking office, he replaced Jose Mane, who had a poor record, as the head coach of the Espanyol men's first team.
These people are all famous players of their respective teams, so it is not surprising at all if Gerrard is appointed as the head coach of Liverpool one day.
Another example is Gary Neville and Thierry Henry, both legendary players, one in Valencia and the other in Monaco. Their coaching results were terrible. After realizing that they were not cut out to be head coaches, they simply gave up their coaching duties and did some investing, became commentators, and said some shocking things. However, they can still stay in the spotlight and participate in the football industry.
There are also Oliver Kahn, Edwin van der Sar and Maldini. After retiring, these people joined their parent teams as managers and embarked on another path of influencing the football world.
But Mourinho can't do that. He doesn't have any capital to replicate the above trajectories.
When he was young, he was an amateur player. At the age of 24, he retired from the Comosio Industrial and Commercial Club of Portugal's fourth-tier league without any prestigious honors.
His first coaching job was in 1987, when he was a fitness coach and assistant coach for the youth team of Victory Clube Setúbal, a small Portuguese team.
Not content with staying in the youth team, he then went to a smaller team, Amadora Star, a bottom-ranked team in the Portuguese second-tier league, the Portuguese First Division, because there, he could be an assistant coach for the first team.
If this kind of plot opening were put into a novel, 95% of the readers would probably run away right from the start.
After being a confused coach for four years following a confused head coach, the person who truly changed his life came.
In 1992, the famous English coach Bobby Robson came to Portugal and became the head coach of Sporting CP.
However, based on the football knowledge and coaching experience Mourinho had learned in recent years, he was not professionally qualified to join Robson's coaching team. But he was good at English and was Portuguese, so he seized the opportunity and simply became a translator.
During his two-year translation career, he continued to learn from the England coach and gained his trust.
When the latter coached the Portuguese powerhouse Porto from 1994 to 1996, he still kept Mourinho by his side. In addition to translation, he also let him participate in the formulation of tactics.
It was not until the summer of 1996 that Robson was poached to Barcelona as head coach and brought Mourinho with him again. The Portuguese talents truly came to a great platform and learned the most advanced club management principles and coaching ideas in the football world.
At that time, Mourinho not only knew English, but also learned and mastered French, Italian, Dutch, Spanish, Russian and Catalan.
Another person who changed him was the famous Dutch coach Louis van Gaal who came to Barcelona after Robson left.
It was precisely because of his proficiency in Dutch that Mourinho's main job at the time was still translation, and he also served as one of several assistant coaches.
During these three years, he witnessed Guardiola's maturity, saw Xavi's rise, and learned the representative thinking of Dutch football.
In 2000, Mourinho returned to his hometown when his contract expired and was appointed head coach of Benfica. He resigned after only 9 months because of differences in ideas with the board of directors.
In 2001, he went to a mid-to-lower-level team, Leiria, and led the team to fifth place in the Portuguese Super League for one season, creating the best result in the team's history.
In 2002, he was appointed head coach of Porto.
Everyone knows what happened later.
From 1987 to 2003 when he led Porto to win the UEFA Cup, creating the first success in his coaching career, Mourinho struggled for 16 years.
From the age of 24 to 40, these 16 years are the effort that a coach without a prominent player background needs to make to reach the threshold of a wealthy club.
And he was a lucky one because he met Bobby Robson who was willing to give him opportunities, promote him and train him.
I don’t know how many people like him can only stay in low-level leagues or small teams forever, and be an unknown staff member in the coaching staff.
However, even if he is full of honors, a head coach without a player background is still just a mercenary.
After Lampard was sacked by Chelsea, he still received applause from the fans when he returned to Stamford Bridge, but when Mourinho led Manchester United and Tottenham back to the Bridge, he faced boos .
After being fired by Tottenham, many people said that he was no longer good enough and no top team would want him.
If he loses again in Rome, it may mean that he, who is nearly 60 years old, can only go to some second-tier or even second-rate regions to continue his coaching career and earn some pension, just like Lippi, Hiddink and Capello.
Inter Milan is no longer Moratti's team, Real Madrid, which is doing well, will no longer think of him, Manchester United and Tottenham are both enemies, and Chelsea will never give him the chance to return to the club for the third time.
So this time when he comes to Rome, he can't act recklessly, at least he can't act like he did when he took over Chelsea at the age of 42, taking on the entire league and mocking everyone he meets.
He must maintain a good relationship with the owner, avoid obvious conflict with the board of directors, and play the role of a referee in the locker room rather than suppressing a certain faction in a targeted manner.
The drama of "female team doctor" and "catching the mole" cannot be staged again.
It’s not that we don’t want to break tradition, but the time has not yet come.
The key to pry open that door is a championship.
The two chatted, thought and watched as Roma pressed forward on the field while Venetians kept looking for opportunities to counterattack.
In the 14th minute, Venice intercepted Veretout's through ball and launched a counterattack from the right with a long pass to the frontcourt. Nigerian center forward David Okereke and Ibanez were sprinting for the second half of the ball, but he blocked Ibanez and pushed him out!
Facing Kumbulla's replacement, Okereke shot from a small angle, but fortunately the ball was too high.
Mourinho was about to speak when Joao spoke first: "Jose, we really can't spend so much money. Pinto has already agreed to sign three players for us. The central defender issue can only be considered next summer."
Mourinho looked at Ibanez who was struggling to get up from the ground. There was no change on his face, but he sighed in his heart.
He really regretted putting Chen Xiaoliang on the bench.
In the 27th minute, Roma pressed forward. Pellegrini made a diagonal pass into the penalty area. Mancini, who was in the penalty area, got the ball and knocked it back to Abraham, who shot and hit the right post!
Pellegrini got the second point and shot again!
It hit the densely packed defense of the Venetians again.
Weletu received the rebound and shot again, but the shot was too high.
The director immediately turned the camera to Cesco who was sitting next to Chen Xiaoliang on the bench.
Karsdorp was shown a yellow card for complaining to the referee Aureliano that Pellegrini's shot hit the defender's hand.
Roma is still wasting a lot of chances due to their poor shooting skills.
In the 32nd and 35th minutes, there were two good chances, one was missed by Abraham and the other by Pellegrini due to muscle weakness.
Tactical success always requires the final touch from the players, and this is something the head coach cannot change.
Near the end of the first half, Roma's attack finally paid off.
In the 43rd minute, El Shaarawy made a cross from the left, Abraham Xia Jiba's header shot turned into a pass, Pellegrini inserted into the middle and kicked it wide, the ball inexplicably came to the feet of Carles Perez at the back post, he easily pushed the ball into the goal, and Roma tied the score to 1-1!
2 minutes of added time.
At the last minute of stoppage time, Abraham received a long pass from Cristante in the penalty area, stopped the ball with his chest, and then held off Venice's goal scorer Caldara, and made a clean turn and shot to score another goal!
In just 2 minutes, Roma reversed from a 1-0 deficit away from home to a 1-2 lead!
When the referee blew the whistle, the players' smug expressions appeared again.
It seemed that the half was over, the game was completely over, and the 3 points were firmly in hand.
