Chapter 56 Newcomer
What a quiet afternoon!
When Yang Hao woke up in his bedroom, he felt refreshed and energetic.
Perhaps because they knew he was on vacation, there hadn't been a single phone call from morning till now. After watching the video of the two-legged Champions League semi-final between Real Madrid and Bayern, he went to bed after lunch and had a good sleep.
Things in the world are really strange.
It's like the European Champions League.
When was Bayern Munich at its strongest?
Yang Hao felt that it should be 1999, but they ran into the Red Devils Manchester United, which was full of buffs. Not only did they fail to win the championship, they also became the background board of the great Manchester United. Who could Bayern go to and cry?
This season, they are still very strong.
A strong midfield of Effenberg, Sauer, Jeremiah, Salihamidzic, Fink, Paulo Sergio and others still made Hitzfeld's team perform very well.
The forward line composed of Elber, Jancker, Zickler and Santa Cruz is also very luxurious.
But this team was dragged down by Bosque's Real Madrid in the semi-finals.
More importantly, anyone can see that this year's Real Madrid's overall strength is much worse than Bayern's.
Just like in this match at the Munich Olympic Stadium, after losing 0-2 to Real Madrid away, Bayern attacked at the start of the home game and scored a goal in 13 minutes.
Real Madrid couldn't even withstand Bayern's opening three-pronged attack away from home.
But what then?
Bayern is worried about gains and losses, especially the players on the field, they lack a unified idea.
With Bayern's strength, after scoring the first goal, they could have pressed on and scored another goal to bring the game back to the same starting line, but Hitzfeld and his players were obviously conservative.
As soon as the pressure from Bayern was relieved, Real Madrid immediately launched a counterattack.
This season's Anelka is actually a bit like Gareth Bale later, repeatedly scoring goals at critical moments.
This time was no exception. The Frenchman, who played as a lone striker, received an assist from his left-wing teammate Savio and scored with a powerful header in the 31st minute, completely killing Bayern Munich.
One away goal and Bayern was sentenced to death!
In the end, Bayern won 2-1, but so what?
Even though morale was low, Bayern still created many opportunities, even several excellent chances, but they were missed again and again, especially Saul and Elber, who both missed good chances to score.
Some people say that this is fate!
In 1999 and 2000, Europe owed Bayern a Champions League, so in 2001, when Bayern's overall strength had clearly declined, they suddenly gave Bayern a Champions League.
As a result, the unlucky ones were Cooper and his Valencia, who had reached the European finals for three consecutive years.
Of course, Yang Hao is not superstitious, nor does he think it is fate. He can only say that Bayern's overall strength is not strong enough, and its ability to control the game is not good enough, so the tolerance rate is naturally low.
Cup matches are often the ones where mistakes are most likely to occur.
Let’s look at Real Madrid. They bought Anelka for 30 million euros, but they have been having trouble with him throughout the season. Everyone knows that the Frenchman will definitely leave after the end of this season.
But what?
He scored two goals in the two most crucial games, helping Real Madrid enter the Champions League final.
I would like to ask, is it worth spending 30 million euros?
…
The first thing Yang Hao did after he went out was to call the team's locker room manager over.
This is also an old employee of Atletico Madrid. Yang Hao only knows that his name is Ramon, and his specific surname is not clear.
"We will have two new players starting training with the team this afternoon. Please arrange the locker room matters in advance." Yang Hao instructed.
He was talking about Torres and Gabi.
Ramon nodded with a smile, indicating that he had received the news a long time ago.
It's strange to say, but fans of all teams hope that the head coach will promote more young players from his own youth training.
This is called our own people.
The news that Yang Hao wanted to take Torres and Gabi to the away game had spread long ago.
Sure enough, the team captain Tony Muñoz, Aguilera, Santi Denia, Kiko and others were already prepared. They all knew that there would be new players in the afternoon training session.
Yang Hao hopes that these veterans can guide the newcomers more, and also tell them that the team still needs them to continue to play a role.
"This summer, we will face greater challenges and it will be difficult. I hope you can continue to support me and the club!" Yang Hao made an appeal.
Being all in the same locker room, Tony Munoz, Aguilera and others were of course aware of the team's current problems. They also knew that many players had already contacted their next clubs, while some who had not yet done so were just waiting and watching.
For example, Hasselbaink.
Do you know how many clubs have attracted the attention of this season's La Liga Golden Boot winner?
Marca previously counted that there were 15 companies that explicitly extended olive branches to Hasselbaink.
This statistic was collected after Atletico Madrid successfully avoided relegation. Before that, the number would have been even higher.
Many of them are from the Premier League, but there are also teams from La Liga.
Yang Hao made a preliminary calculation himself and found that the number of players leaving Atletico Madrid this summer will definitely exceed double digits, or even more than 15. This will be a very amazing reorganization.
But there is no way. After all the trouble this season, many people have lost confidence in the team.
Of course, this is not uncommon.
For example, Sevilla, which was relegated early, is said to have more than 20 players leaving the team this summer, including the main central defender Marchena, who is now the most marketable player in the Sevilla team.
Real Betis, which is also facing relegation, will sell more than a dozen players, including the team's biggest striker Alfonso.
It is said that the player has reached a private agreement with Barcelona and Barcelona will sign him for a high price of 16.5 million euros.
Interestingly, this player comes from Real Madrid's youth training camp.
For teams in the top leagues, relegation means destruction and disaster.
The Premier League is actually relatively okay, as there is the so-called parachute protection. In La Liga, after relegation, income drops sharply, and teams can basically only rely on continuous selling of players in exchange for opportunities for new life.
Yang Hao's bad luck was that he took over Atletico Madrid too late. Everyone thought the team was going to be relegated and the players had fallen apart. As a result, he managed to avoid relegation.
Under such circumstances, the new season still requires major changes.
This is also a brand new challenge for Yang Hao.
Taking over a team midway, making adjustments and repairs, and starting from scratch to build a team are two completely different coaching methods. Most head coaches are only good at one of them and can thrive in European football.
For Yang Hao, this is a brand new challenge. If he succeeds, his fame will definitely be greater than it is now.
Only then did he truly gain a foothold in European football.
…
In the afternoon, before training class.
When the two young players Torres and Gabi timidly appeared in the first-team training area of Majadahonda and walked cautiously into the locker room, the first person they met was the administrator Ramon.
"Come here, boys, Mr. Yang Hao has already given us instructions."
After hearing this, the two young men felt even more grateful to the head coach.
Ramon took them to visit the first-team locker room, told them who had whose wardrobe and seat, who had whose habits, and told them as much about the team as possible.
Finally, they are taken to their assigned positions and wardrobes, where all their jerseys, boots and training gear are located.
Atletico Madrid has sponsors, so no other brands of sports equipment are allowed in the Majadahonda and Calderon Stadiums, but football boots are allowed.
When the time was almost up, the two young people could no longer sit still.
As they sat in the locker room, they saw stars coming in one after another, including Fresnedoso from the double championship era, Tony Muñoz, the captain on the field, Aguilera, as well as Valerón and Hasselbaink...
Especially when Torres saw Kiko, he was completely stunned.
This has been his idol since he was a child!
Before, Torres thought of many possibilities and deduced what he would say to his idol, but when they really met, he found that he couldn't say a word.
Instead, Kiko came over with a smile and reached out to grab a handful of the freckled boy's hair. "I've heard about you for a long time, Fernando. Finally, you're in the first team!"
Kiko is like an old friend who I have known for a long time.
"Yes , yes." Torres, who had never known what stage fright was, was actually a little nervous.
"The boss said that you will be better than me. I am looking forward to it!" Kiko said with a smile.
Torres suddenly became nervous. Being young, he couldn't understand what Kiko meant.
"Don't be nervous, kid. You are still so young, of course you should be better than me. That way you will have a promising future and our Atletico Madrid will have hope, right?" Kiko immediately comforted the young freckled boy.
Torres thought there was some truth to that.
But only those who truly regard Atletico Madrid as their home are willing to say such words.
"From today on, you will follow me, but let me make this clear. I will hold you to the most stringent standards , especially regarding your skills. The boss says your skills are too poor."
If Yang Hao were present, he would definitely fight with Kiko.
Did I say it was too bad?
I just said that his skills are not sophisticated enough and need to be polished.
"By the way, your body is too weak. You must train it. It would be best if you could be as strong as him." Kiko pointed at Hasselbaink and said with a smile.
The Dutch center also heard it, turned around immediately, and immediately got excited, posing like a bodybuilder, showing off those muscles that even he himself was drooling over.
Torres was a little confused.
Isn’t it said that the atmosphere in the first team is very bad?
Why does it seem different from what was rumored?
On the other side, Gabi also met his "teacher". Yang Hao asked the captain Aguilera to lead him personally.
Antonio Lopez's " teacher " is the old captain Tony Munoz, who has been coaching him for some time.
Yang Hao hopes that through this method of old players bringing up new players, he can help these new players integrate into the locker room, grow and improve faster, and become a new force in Atletico Madrid's first team.
The players in the locker room had no objection to this. Many of them were about to leave the team, and they would not cause any trouble at this critical juncture.
Besides, with Yang Hao in charge, what kind of trouble can they cause?
