Chapter 33: This game cannot be played!
Time makes people grow old!
This sentence touched me even more deeply when I met Beckham.
Zidane was born in 1972 and Beckham was born in 1975, three years apart in age. But unlike Zidane who did not dare to make a solemn promise when faced with difficult questions, Beckham stated without hesitation that he could meet the difficult requirements.
Moreover, the England midfield looked highly motivated and eager to try.
Gao Shen was very happy to see this mental outlook.
If all the superstars of Real Madrid could have the same form and desire to win as Beckham, then things would be simple and Real Madrid would not have fallen into the current situation.
Beckham was also quick to reveal the source of his motivation.
"This is the first time I have returned to England to play since I joined Real Madrid in 2003."
Gao Shen was stunned. He really hadn't noticed this.
Seeing Beckham speak so seriously, it goes without saying that he is right.
So, Real Madrid has never faced a Premier League team in the past three years. No wonder they lost 0-1 to Arsenal in the first leg at the Bernabeu. Given Real Madrid's current aging condition, facing a Premier League team would be like lighting a light in the toilet, seeking death.
As a player from Manchester United, Beckham is very familiar with his arch-rival Arsenal, but Arsenal in recent years is very different from before, especially with the departure of a group of players such as Vieira, Arsenal is undergoing technical and youthful reforms, and its playing style has also changed.
Let me put it this way, before Gao Shen's time travel, many people's impression of Wenger was that he was a technical player who was good at youth training and discovering new talents. This is actually wrong, or incomplete.
Wenger used to spend money lavishly on buying players, but later on he had to tighten his belt in order to build a new stadium, so he was forced to focus on youth training and discover new talents. As for technical skills, this is not comprehensive, because for a period of time, Arsenal was the dirtiest team in the Premier League.
Later, after Vieira left the team, weren't Arsenal players often assaulted and had incidents like broken legs?
Many people said that this was Wenger's team paying off debts for past grudges.
When Gao Shen asked Beckham about his thoughts on the match against Arsenal, the England midfielder mentioned the battle at the Bernabeu.
Gao Shen did not witness this game in person, but he has seen the video. At the beginning of the game, Arsenal launched a fierce attack on Real Madrid. Through the fast-paced pressing that Premier League teams are good at, they forced Real Madrid into a difficult situation and looked very embarrassed, which seriously disrupted Real Madrid's game rhythm and deployment.
Carlo himself said that in the match at the Bernabeu, Arsenal's crazy pressing in the opening stages made Real Madrid very uncomfortable.
"I think we need to change our team's style, learn Arsenal's attitude towards the game, show our courage and determination , and stop playing slowly. We won't win at Highbury like this," Beckham suggested.
Gao Shen had been listening and nodding his head. After Beckham finished speaking, he clapped his hands vigorously and said, "That's very well said. You said what I wanted to say and what I wanted to do."
After a pause, Gao Shen changed the subject and said, "But you also know the current situation of the team and the dire situation after the loss in the first round. I have to weigh, choose, and even compromise. However, what you said has given me great help and confidence."
Beckham was also happy.
His situation is better than Woodgate's, but he also suffers from communication problems.
But now, Gao Shen can not only communicate with him in fluent English, but the two also have many common goals and interests. This makes Beckham like Gao Shen more and more, and he even occasionally thinks that it would be good if he could continue to be the head coach .
"In short, don't worry, this is the most important game in my Real Madrid career. I can guarantee that I will absolutely try my best and do everything I can to help the team win, because I dream of returning to England wearing a Real Madrid jersey and using the game to show them my strength."
It can be heard that Beckham is still angry.
In 2003, he left Manchester United in a very bad way, and the past three years happened to be an embarrassing period for Real Madrid to gain nothing, so many people are increasingly convinced that it was Beckham, this guy with a silver-like wax head, who dragged down Real Madrid.
He also wants to prove himself!
"Very good, I feel relieved after hearing your words." Gao Shen said with a smile.
…
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In addition to Raul, Zidane and Beckham, Gao Shen also communicated with several important players in the team one by one.
For example, Gravesen, Elguera, Woodgate, Casillas and others.
In addition to asking about their current situation and outlook for the game, he also focused on some of the problems they encountered in the match against Atletico Madrid.
The head coach's tactics are tailor-made for the players. The players' feelings on the field and whether they are comfortable playing are also of great guiding significance to the head coach's deployment of troops, so Gao Shen also attaches great importance to this.
The general framework remains unchanged, but some details need to be adjusted. Gao Shen wrote them down one by one and then handed them over to Maqueda, who focused on arranging improvements during training.
The work took two days.
During these two days, Gao Shen talked again with all the players in the team except Ronaldo, Carlos and other Brazilian players, and the conversation was more in-depth than before.
After the training, he did not go to Carlo for advice, but went home and hid in the tactical library after dinner.
Gao Shen has great respect for Carlo, but he has to admit that many of Carlo's ideas and concepts are inconsistent with his own.
To put it bluntly, Carlo is more conservative and steady, while Gao Shen is more radical.
This was the case when we banned the Brazilian gang, and it was also the case when we faced Arsenal.
In the tactical library, Gao Shen was more focused on studying some works of Benítez and Ferguson, focusing on their strategic ideas, deployment of troops and on-the-spot command before and after the contest with Wenger, especially targeted defense.
It has to be said that some of the arrangements made by these two tactical masters have indeed benefited Gao Shen a lot.
…
While Gao Shen was preparing silently, Real Madrid was also carrying out its training plan in an orderly manner.
Since Gaoshen cancelled his half-day holiday, the team was able to take out a training session to conduct targeted drills.
This class was arranged by Gaoshen the day before the competition, so it is extremely precious and every second counts.
At the same time, Gao Shen also arranged a tactical meeting before the last targeted training session. He wanted to explain the targeted tactics in the game against Arsenal, so that every player knew what they were going to do in the game and why they were going to do it.
After the meeting, Gao Shen believed that it would be more effective to practice repeatedly in the afternoon training session.
After the training, Real Madrid will set off for London as a group, and there will be a tactical meeting the next morning.
From the match against Atletico Madrid to the match against Arsenal, not only the coaching staff of Real Madrid, but everyone in the team was like a wound-up spring, working non-stop. Everyone was working towards the same goal, and everyone was very dedicated and focused.
Everyone knows that if the team fails to beat Arsenal at Highbury, it will be eliminated in the round of 16 for two consecutive seasons.
This is unacceptable to Real Madrid in any case.
More importantly, Gao Shen, the local group headed by Raul, Zidane, Beckham, Gravesen and others had reached a consensus early on. Everyone was working hard for this game, and naturally others followed suit.
The outside world is not clear about what Real Madrid is doing, but they only know that the conflict between Gao Shen and the Brazilian gang has not been eased.
Chairman Martin accepted interviews from the media and personally appeared in the hope of easing the conflict and allowing Ronaldo to return to the starting lineup, but Gao Shen did not accept the challenge and did not take any interviews. He focused all his attention on the training base.
The decisive battle is imminent, the storm is about to come, and everyone can feel a strong and resolute murderous aura.
And everyone is guessing, what tactics will Gao Shen adopt at Highbury?
Alfredo, editor-in-chief of AS, said in his column that Real Madrid had no choice but to attack, but Arsenal must have arranged its tactics around this point. Real Madrid's attack was tantamount to stepping directly into Wenger's trap.
How to kick?
Can't kick!
If offense is not possible, how about defense?
That won’t work either, because if Real Madrid wants to advance, they must score goals.
Not only Alfredo, but even former Real Madrid technical director Sacchi revealed in a telephone interview with Marca that Real Madrid's chances of winning this game are slim because Wenger and Arsenal are one of the strongest teams in Europe today.
Many people have also called for Real Madrid to reuse the Brazilian gang, especially Ronaldo and Carlos.
In this critical moment when attack is needed, who is more reliable than Ronaldo? Who is more impactful than Carlos?
But all of this fell on deaf ears and was blocked outside Valdebebas.
There is an uproar outside, with all kinds of opinions, and it seems to be overwhelming. Calls for re-employing Ronaldo have filled the front pages of major Spanish newspapers, especially after the new president Martin made the call.
What’s even worse is that Wenger also came out at this time to accept an interview with the British media.
Arsenal coach said that although the team had the advantage in the first leg , the second leg is still not optimistic. Real Madrid is still the most offensive team on the planet, especially Ronaldo.
"The away goal in the first leg seems to be an advantage, but it means nothing. It will only make Real Madrid try their best to attack. They have Ronaldo, the best attacker in the world. No team's defense dares to say that they can stop Ronaldo from scoring, and neither can we."
"So, against Real Madrid, we have to defend well, but we are never experts in defense, so we need to achieve a balance in the team while doing a good job of defense."
When asked by reporters which player in Real Madrid Wenger feared the most, the Arsenal coach chose Ronaldo without hesitation. He firmly believed that Ronaldo would and should appear at Highbury.
Once Wenger's interview was published in the newspaper, it once again sparked heated discussions, especially when it reached Spain, the Spanish media called even louder for Ronaldo to return.
After losing the first leg at home 0-1, what reason is there not to attack in the second leg away?
Since we are going to attack, why not use Ronaldo?
