Chapter 255 Set sail! Parc des Princes Stadium in Paris!
"Don't ask me anymore. I know what you are thinking."
Chen Xiaoliang, wearing a sweatshirt with the club logo, sat next to Enzo and spoke to the players.
He told the players that the current first team, not counting the three young players Trippi, Tacirovic and Fatikanti who are joining the training camp but may not stay in the first team in the new season, and Volpato who has played several times in the second half of last season and two substitute goalkeepers, has a total of 23 players.
The team plans to add two more players, one of whom is the well-known Argentine star Dybala, and as for the other player, Chen Xiaoliang said it is not convenient to disclose it at the moment given the current transfer market situation.
But whether it is 24 or 25 players, this is just the regular number of first-team players of most teams. For most teams that have to fight on three fronts in domestic competitions and the Champions League and set their goal to qualify for the group stage, this number is definitely not enough.
Last season, Zaniolo, Matic, Celik, Patricio and even himself suffered injuries to varying degrees, and Spinazzola did not return until April.
In the later stages of the season, a set of main players plus a few rotation players had to play in almost every game, and the whole team was exhausted.
If the team had not bought three new players in the winter window, coupled with the rotation of Volpato and Kumbulla, the team would never have been able to win the treble.
What the head coach is doing now is to use the opportunities of training and warm-up matches to find several combinations that can withstand the pressure of major competitions when the main players are injured or rotated.
Of course, this is not a reason to play badly tonight.
In the last two months of the team's championship race last season, he accounted for more than half of the team's statistics in terms of initiation of open play, progressive passes and successful crosses, which means that the team relied too much on him in initiating offense and threatening passes in the frontcourt.
This game is a typical case. It was difficult to pass the ball from the backcourt, and the frontcourt was all running and waiting to receive the ball, resulting in a disconnect between the front and backcourt. This problem was not changed until Enzo and Wijnaldum came on the court.
Last season was his first season playing for Roma. From defensive midfielder in the first half of the season to all-around midfielder in the second half, the team was also adapting and adjusting his position on the field.
Now that he has made a name for himself, the three northern powers and Napoli will definitely make very careful and targeted arrangements for him in the new season, not to mention the opponents he may encounter in the Champions League.
This is also the reason why Mourinho introduced Enzo and Wijnaldum when the number of players in the midfield was relatively sufficient, in order to provide new offensive and defensive combinations in the midfield.
Finally, it’s the mentality after winning the championship.
Chen Xiaoliang does not speculate on Mourinho's psychological activities, but last season's success, while boosting the confidence of all players, also gave rise to another emotion - complacency.
This is normal, but also harmful, not only among the players, but also among the fans.
Chen Xiaoliang remembers very clearly that after he joined the team last season, he also did not participate in many warm-up matches, and the results of the warm-up matches at that time were far worse than they are now.
But for Roma, which only finished 7th in the league in the previous season, the fans gave Mourinho great tolerance and trust at the time.
But now the situation is different. The champion has only one destiny - that is to defend the title.
Fans can no longer easily accept the team's defeat, even in a warm-up match.
If you think that the opponent is not as strong as your team on paper, the only outcome of the game should be winning.
Finally, Chen Xiaoliang solemnly warned the whole team that they must forget all the success of last season and return to their original state.
Those old players who were already in the team, think back to what Roma was like before the new players came. Even if you are the veterans of the team, you must understand that without a new coach and new teammates, you will never succeed alone.
New players, whether they came last season or this season, must respect the history, tradition and culture of the club, and must respect the contributions made by previous players.
At Chen Xiaoliang's suggestion, Enzo apologized to Pellegrini, and Pellegrini also took the initiative to make peace with Enzo, and this chapter was turned over.
Just as the two were turning the page, the door of the locker room opened and Mourinho walked in, having apparently attended the post-match press conference.
The players all looked at him with a little embarrassment, not knowing whether the old man was eavesdropping outside the door or just happened to come back.
Mourinho was slightly surprised and said: "Oh? The locker room is so quiet today? Then you can see how I mock the two stupid reporters when you return to the hotel."
After saying that, Mourinho, who looked very proud, saw that the players were still a little embarrassed, and asked Forti: "Are you okay?"
Forti shook his head: "It's good. Everyone is quietly reflecting on why we lost tonight."
Mourinho waved his hand and said, "Let's go back to the hotel. We have to leave for Paris tomorrow."
The next morning, the team set out by plane to Versailles, a famous satellite city of Paris.
This city is nothing special to foreign players, but the name has special meaning to the Reds.
The team played a friendly match with Nice of French Ligue 1 at a small stadium here on July 24.
Mourinho continued to field a lineup composed mainly of substitutes and rotated main players, and still did not give Chen Xiaoliang and Kva a chance to play. Even Patricio, who started in the previous game, returned to the bench.
In this game, he tried to let Cristante and Pellegrini play as central midfielders in the first and second half respectively, responsible for the guidance and transfer of the ball, but the effect was still not good.
The former has a good overall view and the ability to pass the ball, but his weak speed limits his offensive and defensive rhythm and coverage.
Although the latter is very keen on passing the ball forward, he is not good at controlling the rhythm of the midfield, and his weak defensive ability prevents him from becoming a barrier in front of the double defensive midfielders.
In the end, after 90 minutes in which neither side had any outstanding performances, the two sides shook hands and made peace with a 1-1 draw thanks to Nice's two goals.
Nice scored a goal from a set-piece in the first half and an own goal while defending a set-piece in the second half.
At the post-match press conference, not to mention Turin Sports Daily, even Corriere dello Sport, which regards Roma under Mourinho as the "light of Italy", raised questions, questioning Mourinho's conservative and rigid tactical arrangements in the warm-up match, and that he made a huge mistake in the transfer of Kvaratskhelia, and he was slow to give a positive response as to why Chen Xiaoliang was not allowed to play.
Mourinho didn't explain much, just raised three fingers and responded:
"I hope you don't have such a short memory because two months ago we won the treble and I remember clearly that at the beginning of last season, none of you 'experts' or 'authorities' predicted that we would win the title."
The team will face Paris Saint-Germain . A series of weak performances have caused the team to completely lose the laughter and joy that they had when they first gathered during training.
Everyone was serious, but also worked harder.
After training one afternoon, Forti saw Chen Xiaoliang, Cesco, and Kva who were training extra and no longer as relaxed and cheerful as usual, so he found Mourinho:
"Jose, should I say something? I think this morale is not good. The league will start in about 15 days. Tell the players your thoughts in detail. I believe they will understand."
Mourinho smiled crookedly: "Hasn't our captain said a lot? I think he said it very well, neither too much nor too little. He said everything that should be said and didn't say anything that shouldn't be said. It was very good."
Futi looked surprised: "What? Did you hear it at the locker room door last time?"
Mourinho sneered: "Haha, at the press conference that day, I only answered two questions and then left the microphone. From outside the locker room door, I noticed that it was quiet inside, so I stopped at the door and listened for a while."
Futi: "Did you ask Chen to convey this?"
Mourinho shook his head: "No, I, Mourinho, will not have a spokesperson. I am me, and there will be no second me."
Fortunately, when Forti heard this and was in Versailles, he didn't know what Versailles meant...
Mourinho went on to say: "There are seven warm-up matches in total, and the last two are crucial. I didn't let Chen play for more than 20 days to make them understand two things."
"First, he is the undisputed core of the team. As long as he is on the field, we are a different team."
“Two, the team has to learn to play without him.”
"Forget that we are the defending champions, forget that we are the Europa League champions, especially we must understand that the Champions League is one level ahead of any other competition."
"And the reason why I didn't give them a lecture was because I didn't intend to say these things in the first place. These things should be felt by them themselves."
"There are also some bullshit media saying that we should give up the defensive counterattack tactics in the new season and take the initiative to attack."
"Especially in the next game against Paris Saint-Germain, it would be best to have a crazy offensive confrontation."
"I don't want to explain this to the kids."
"Now they understand, right? Without those two or three absolute main players and without a resolute defense and counterattack, their level and what they can play on the field are about the same as teams like Sporting CP and Nice."
"Enzo is a good player. Together with Dybala, he can shoulder the responsibility of attacking and defending in the frontcourt when Chen is not on the field.
“But he still needs time to integrate.”
So, just as Mourinho had imagined, the team trained for six days in the sunny and comfortable Versailles with a feeling of something was always suppressed in their hearts, and then took a bus to the city of Paris 15 kilometers away to challenge the upstart European team at the Parc des Princes, the home stadium of Paris Saint-Germain.
This is Roma's penultimate warm-up match. They will return to Rome a week later to play another warm-up match against Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk before welcoming the start of Serie A.
But for Paris Saint-Germain, this is a game with completely different meaning.
Due to consecutive defeats in the Champions League, Pochettino was fired by the Paris Saint-Germain board of directors after the end of last season and hired Lille head coach Christopherson Galthie, who snatched the Ligue 1 championship from Paris Saint-Germain in the 2020-21 season, as the new head.
In addition to helping Lille, which was ranked fourth in the previous season, to win the French Ligue 1, Galthie also led Nice, which was ranked ninth in the league, into the European competition zone last season.
After playing against Roma, Paris Saint-Germain will start their own official game. The next game will be against Nantes for the French Super Cup.
Maybe for others this is just a small trophy in the warm-up stage of the season, but for Galthie, who is coaching a super aircraft carrier like Paris Saint-Germain for the first time, this is a trophy that must be won.
And behind him, the club's board of directors is always watching him.
If this superstar aircraft carrier deviates from its course in any way, the Qataris will immediately wave their checks and look for a new head coach to replace it.
Another issue that the club has given him to solve is how to effectively integrate the superstar attacking group of Messi, Neymar and Mbappe.
Although this game was caused by Wijnaldum's loan, there are reasons for both head coaches to take it seriously.
Chen Xiaoliang trained for a total of 15 days in these 18 days. Although he sometimes missed some formal training time because he served as a referee for the team's training, he would make up for it in extra training and in the gym. Overall, he maintained the rhythm of the 3+1 mode and gained a total of 56 training points.
Training value 17→73
He increased his shooting to 15 and improved his technique by 1 point.
Shots 13 → 15
Technique 10 → 11
Training value 73 → 13
At this point, in addition to the three set-piece attributes of out-of-bounds kicks, penalties and free kicks, in fact, he also knows that he has become a "hexagonal warrior" with very comprehensive abilities in all aspects.
However, most of their attributes are still at 15, which is better than the average player, but still far from those who have top abilities in certain areas.
When walking into the locker room of the Parc des Princes Stadium, Mourinho still didn't say much, but when announcing the starting lineup, he surprisingly put Chen Xiaoliang as central midfielder.
This also aroused the curiosity of the three newcomers Enzo, Kva and Wijnaldum. They also wanted to see how the team captain would perform in actual combat, especially when facing the superstars of Paris Saint-Germain.
In this game, Mourinho almost played with all the starting players:
goalkeeper Patricio;
Defenders Celik, Mancini, Ibanez, Malasia;
Double defensive midfielders Matic and Enzo;
Central midfielder Chen Xiaoliang;
Left winger Zaniolo, right winger Pellegrini, center forward Cesco.
Although Kwa still did not start, he was told by Forti to "be ready to warm up and play at any time."
Paris Saint-Germain also sent out its main players:
Goalkeeper Donnarumma;
The three central defenders are Kimpembe, Marquinhos and Ramos;
Ashraf, right wingback, Nuno Mendes, left wingback;
The double midfielders Verratti and Vitinha;
The name that all Roma players are looking forward to is written on the right winger position!
Messi!
Neymar on the left!
The only pity is that Mbappe did not start, and the Spanish striker Sarabia, who was newly introduced from Sporting CP, played at the center position.
It is rumored that Mbappe felt some discomfort in his adductor muscle during training the day before the game, so he did not start.
Marquinhos and Chen Xiaoliang exchanged team flags and souvenirs on behalf of both teams.
And there was a small episode before the game.
When the Roma players entered the stadium, the announcer in the stadium was very respectful and introduced the name of each of the Roma starting players in an enthusiastic tone. He also made special mention of Chen Xiaoliang's Copa Award and Serie A's best player status, and also warmly welcomed Mourinho.
But after the Paris Saint-Germain players entered the stadium, the club organized a small ceremony. Because they had been training abroad before, this was the first warm-up match back at home. Club chairman Nasser personally presented Messi with a commemorative trophy, and the announcer used the most excited tone to congratulate Messi on defeating the "European Champion Italy" in the summer and winning the European and American Cup.
You know, not only is Roma an Italian club, but Cristante's Spinazzola also won the 2020 European Cup with Italy.
This has some connotations of open ridicule.
However, Chen Xiaoliang still gave Messi a friendly hug before kick-off, but time was too tight and the two did not have the opportunity to reminisce about their chance encounter in Paris that night in public.
However, compared to others, Enzo was the most excited.
This was his first chance to play against his idol on behalf of a different team! He was so nervous that he was shaking slightly when he entered the player tunnel.
When Messi announced his retirement from the national team in 2016, Enzo, then 15, published a public article begging Messi not to quit and said that it was the darkest day of his life.
Since then, he has made catching up with Messi his life goal.
But he will not be so foolish as to deliberately let his idol go on the field just because he is a fan. He knows that the best way to respect his idol and help him in the World Cup at the end of the year is to take every training session and every game seriously!
Chen Xiaoliang had also been prepared. His target was not only Messi, but also the Brazilian superstar Neymar on the other side, and the expressionless French genius sitting on the bench who might not be found even once in decades.
