socalfunplaces Chapter 27: On the Eve of the First League Match!
Chapter 27: On the Eve of the First League Match!
On the afternoon of September 13.
Tactical room inside the Calderón Stadium, Madrid.
The room was filled with an extremely strange mixed smell.
The rich bitterness of freshly ground black coffee is mixed with the pungent spiciness of the liniment specially made by Ortega's team doctor.
Gabby, holding a thick tactical notebook, sat imposingly in the middle of the first row.
He looked up and shouted towards the last corner of the row.
"Tibor! You idiot!"
Gabby pointed to the tactical board hanging on the wall directly in front of him.
The board had a huge crack in the middle, and the plastic shell along the edges was warped up.
"What the hell were you doing in the locker room yesterday?"
Gabby cursed irritably.
"You really wanted to use this thing as a skateboard? Now look what's happened, the board's cracked in two! What's the instructor going to use to draw diagrams when he comes in?"
Courtois huddled in the corner of the last row.
Taking advantage of his 1.99-meter height, he put his long legs directly on the back of the chair in front of him.
"Captain, this isn't my fault."
Courtois nonchalantly spread his hands.
"That was to celebrate our draw against Real Madrid in the Middle East."
Falcao sat next to Gabi, not participating in the bickering, and casually flipped through the player information in his hand.
"Bang--!"
The door to the tactics room was pushed open with a thud.
Gabby was startled.
Li Jing pulled out a chair in the middle and sat down.
He was holding a bottle of electrolyte water with frost droplets still clinging to its surface.
"Where did you get this water from?"
Gabby turned his head and asked,
"Doesn't the base rule prohibit bringing drinks to tactical meetings? Also, Li, next time you come out, don't push the door open so hard; you'll break it sooner or later."
"I took it from the freezer in the physiotherapy room."
Li Jing unscrewed the bottle cap and answered the first question.
"Dr. Ortega was preparing his liniment for bruises and sprains, and the whole room smelled of Chinese medicine. He didn't pay any attention to me at all."
Li Jing tilted his head back and took a big gulp. The icy liquid slid down his throat, slightly cooling his body, which was feverish from the intense recovery training.
"Those reporters outside are absolutely crazy, Li. I've noticed you're really popular right now."
Gabby leaned closer in, his voice low and laced with a mischievous grin.
"There were at least fifty people blocking the gate of the training base today. They were all there to ask if the club would start you in the second half."
Let them block the road.
Li Jing put the cap back on the bottle and shook his head helplessly.
"Actually, if I could, I wouldn't want to be this famous."
"Bang!"
The door to the tactics room was pushed open again, slamming against the wall with a dull thud.
Gabby was startled again!
Seriously, these guys are pushing the door open with all their might.
Gabi turned around and saw it was Simone, and seemed to feel much relieved.
Ah, so it turns out that if the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will also be crooked.
If a coach does this, maybe that's called locker room culture!
Simone strode in, dressed in a sharp, all-black suit.
He slammed a thick stack of tactical documents onto the tactical table in front of him.
There was no small talk.
Simone reached out and pressed the switch on the slide projector.
A beam of light from the slides shone onto the screen, displaying Atlético Madrid's packed schedule from mid-January to the end of February.
"Gentlemen, the Dubai sun and beaches are over."
Simeone pointed to the densely packed match list, his voice low and carrying a strong sense of pressure.
"Look at this damn schedule."
"League matches plus Europa League games, eight tough matches in a month and a half!"
A suppressed gasp filled the tactical room.
"This is way too dense."
Miranda muttered to herself.
"It's basically two matches a week, and I just can't recover my physical condition."
Li Jing took a sip of electrolyte water.
Tomorrow is the first match of the league.
The next few months will be his season in Europe.
His gaze swept quickly across the curtain.
They skipped tomorrow's opponent Villarreal, and bypassed Real Sociedad and Lazio in the following matches.
It was firmly pinned to the very bottom of the schedule.
February 27th, La Liga Round 25.
Atletico Madrid vs. Barcelona.
Li Jing quickly calculated in his mind.
There's still a month and a half until the match against Barcelona, eight games in total.
He's under a lot of pressure.
If we lose this match to Barcelona, the system will force an elimination due to a ruptured Achilles tendon.
He immediately brought up the simulator panel in his mind.
[Currently available training hours: 55000 points]
This is all fleecing Di Maria and Higuain.
The efficiency was amazing, but a big problem remains.
I wonder if any of the opponents in these eight matches are Argentinians.
Even if there are any, there will be very few superstars left, which means he will no longer have the opportunity to collect a large number of training hours by provoking Messi's die-hard supporters, as he did before.
What should we do?
Li Jing admitted that he probably could only take it one step at a time.
The most important thing now is these eight matches. If we can remain undefeated, or even achieve a winning streak, then we need to win.
Perhaps with media coverage, I've become a hot topic, which might provoke some fans to release some special content?
Even without that, in European leagues, as long as you perform exceptionally well, you can still make it into the news.
Li Jing will never forget that winning the championship had a significant impact.
His ultimate goal was to thoroughly cleanse the group of vampires in the country.
If he could, he would sleep with both the daughter and wife of the sports director of Jiangzhou Zhouning Club!
No, I want a rice bowl!
"Li Jing, what are you thinking about! Look over here!"
Simone picked up a black marker and drew a 4-4-2 formation on the brand-new whiteboard next to him.
"We'll be playing Villarreal at home tomorrow."
Simone tapped on the whiteboard.
Do you know where this "Yellow Submarine" ranks now?
Simeone surveyed the entire stadium.
"Third from bottom! They're now deep in the relegation zone!"
"That means they'll fight tooth and nail," Gabby added.
"That's right."
Simone sneered.
"They're like drowning dogs, grabbing at anything that might save them. But what we need to do is kick them all the way to the bottom of the sea!"
Falcao said:
"Coach, they still have control of the midfield."
I learned this from our last match: Borja Valero's passes are troublesome, and Nilma is extremely fast. Once we get past his defense, we'll be in a very passive position.
I have to say, they really don't seem like a team that's third from the bottom in the league!
This is La Liga!
There are almost no weak teams!
So, we're going to drag the game into the mud!
Simone slammed the marker down on the table.
"Don't give them space to control the ball, don't give them time to think!"
"Use your body to bump into them, use fouls to cut them off!"
I want you to build a meat grinder on Calderon's grass!
Gabby opened his notebook:
"Their left-back Catara was injured in the last game, and he will most likely start as a substitute for Oriol tomorrow."
"Good news."
Simone nodded.
"Juanfran, tomorrow you're going to keep him pinned down on the right flank! Make sure he can't even get into the halfway line!"
Juanfran loudly agreed, "Leave it to me!"
Simone turned around and looked at everyone.
Simeone's football philosophy is actually very simple.
He has been putting it into practice.
He wants to make his opponents afraid!
Regardless of their team's value or what kind of team they are.
Their relentless, rabid attacks made everyone who came to their home turf tremble with fear.
This is Simeone's football philosophy.
"The mess from the first half of the season must be completely turned over starting tomorrow."
"I want the whole of La Liga to know that playing at the Calderón is a tough nut to crack!"
……