I Am Scouted by Real Madrid-Chapter 332 - 22: Setting Things Right (Part 2)

"I didn’t mean to get him fired." Chen Zhong raised his voice as he said this, making Pellegrini, who was straining to eavesdrop, feel relieved: "I just want him to truly understand Real Madrid."

Francisco gave Chen Zhong an appreciative look; those words were well-spoken.

We’re not trying to "rebel," huh!

Just discussing team tactics with the coach.

Pellegrini and Chen Zhong talked for a while. He tried to bring up his league theory again, but Chen Zhong shut him down with one sentence: "The Merengues don’t just demand victories; they want beautiful victories, more and more beautiful victories."

"How long has it been since you heard the cheers from the first match?"

In the first league match of this season, Chen Zhong scored twice with heavy cannons to defeat the opponent. In that match, Chen Zhong showcased qualities he never had before: "mighty heavy cannons" and "turning arcs."

After that match, Pellegrini’s tactics and player selection received praise from the media and fans.

But what happened later?

Gradually, those voices of praise disappeared.

"But Xavi is injured." Pellegrini looked at Chen Zhong and brought up the issue of Xabi Alonso again: "Besides you, who else can stand in that position?"

There were many things he wanted to say to Chen Zhong, but now Pellegrini couldn’t utter a single word.

This season, Real Madrid spent 300 million in the transfer market, but they didn’t consult him on transfer issues, they just informed him. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Generally speaking, if the team doesn’t get money, the coach will let the team lose some matches to expose some problems and then force the club to spend money to make up for it.

But Pellegrini didn’t want to do that because his opponent was Guardiola’s Cosmic Team, and he wanted to win the league title.

So he chose another straightforward route, which was to have Chen Zhong squat, sacrificing the team’s potential while naively threatening the club: heh heh heh, you wouldn’t want your treasured players doing such dirty, tiring work every day, right?

Of course, in Pellegrini’s heart, he indeed felt that no one was more suitable for that position than Chen Zhong.

"I heard Francisco recommended two candidates for you."

"One is Baptista, the other is Pepe."

"Baptista may have had a failed stint at Arsenal, but that was already three years ago, and Pepe’s impulsiveness may be reckless at center-back, but he is suitable as a defensive midfielder, and Ramos could also move from the flank to the center." Chen Zhong reiterated the suggestions Francisco had given to Pellegrini.

At the time, Arsenal loaned Baptista as a replacement for Vieira, and this large "Beast" in physique looked very similar to Vieira, but unfortunately, throughout the season, he always had mistakes on the defensive end.

Clearly intercepted a ball, yet always seemed to let it slip, so ultimately, Arsenal let go of Baptista.

Now Baptista is already 28 years old, at the peak of his physical condition, and he is no longer the La Liga silver boot who scored 20 goals in 30 league appearances.

During his time at Real Madrid, the star pressure and loan exile ground down this Brazilian, transitioning him from an awkward sword and shield into a patient and solid steel shield.

He not only possesses a strong physique but also has the natural technical characteristics of a Brazilian player, and during Schuster’s time, their coordination was very tacit.

Now Baptista seems to be returning to "18 years old," and can completely handle the position of defensive midfielder.

As for Pepe, covering defense area, speed, aggression, these all are good traits, Pellegrini at this moment also thought of Ramos playing as a defensive midfielder.

But in the end, he still removed Pepe and Ramos from his mind.

The changes in modern football are quite obvious, but Pepe and Ramos lack the awareness of converting defense into offense, at least compared to Chen Zhong and Baptista; they follow the flow more, and in terms of ball protection, it’s also a bit lacking, which can become a "weakness" when targeted.

Such players might perform miracles as surprise soldiers in certain specific matches, but they cannot be the team’s long-term "reliance."

Chen Zhong’s words made Pellegrini finally without any excuse, he looked at Chen Zhong with a complex expression and said, "You’re right."

"So, what am I supposed to do next?"

Pellegrini felt a bit dejected, he even thought of "resigning," he had lost Chen Zhong’s trust, and Chen Zhong’s trust practically equated to the trust of the dressing room.

"Center the team around me." Chen Zhong said to Pellegrini earnestly: "We should aim to play a possession-based style."

Real Madrid’s traditional style is "possession," this statement is both correct and incorrect.

As a historically rich team, Real Madrid’s traditional playstyle is "spectacular," and that indeed includes possession elements.

However, due to different aesthetic standards across eras, Real Madrid’s tactical style has been constantly changing, and now Real Madrid fans are very eager to see the team play "possession," and Pellegrini’s tactics also carry the shadow of possession and attacking football.

It’s just that some incidents led to Pellegrini missing the forest for the trees.

Pellegrini is definitely an excellent coach; being one of the few managers to come from South America to Europe and leading Villarreal to the semifinals of the Champions League proves this.

In this conversation, Chen Zhong made three demands:

1. Pellegrini only needs to focus on tactics.

2. The team’s playstyle should center around Chen Zhong.

3. Satisfy the fans’ demand for a possession-style play,

These three points were not very difficult for Pellegrini to accept. His tactical approach already carried some possession elements; the biggest issue was his preference for using a fixed set of tactics and constantly perfecting them without innovating.

And now Chen Zhong gave him a "fixed" research topic.

...

There are no secrets within Real Madrid, and Chen Zhong leading the players to coerce the coach was still leaked, with external media reports starting to come in, and the "BC" company began adjusting odds, creating an illusion that Milan would surely beat Real Madrid.

Amidst this, many media outlets chose another angle, starting to criticize Chen Zhong, mocking Florentino, ridiculing Real Madrid, and even some tabloids in the Catalonia Region opened with "Real Madrid’s season collapse."

"A 17-year-old earning the highest salary in the world, now there’s a problem, huh!"

"Keep it up! Real Madrid probably will just end up in the Champions League round of 16 again, what’s the use of 300 million!"

"Milan beats Real Madrid away, and then Real Madrid loses consecutively, ultimately getting eliminated in the group stage, not even reaching the top 16..."

...

People talked wildly, predicting Real Madrid’s decline.

During this time, Real Madrid did not make a public statement; after all, the match was only a day away, and now this news could also serve as a smokescreen for the team.

While Real Madrid was sharpening their weapons and Pellegrini was making tactical adjustments, Pato’s phone call came through.

Pato and Chen Zhong had played together in Milan last season, both were "genius boys," but Pato’s brilliance was at one time overshadowed by Chen Zhong.

Now they were both strong contenders for the Golden Boy Award.

Pato’s call came at this time...

Chen Zhong frowned, was it to mock?