Starting With Real Madrid

(3/6)

Gao Shen could feel the change in the attitude of Real Madrid fans towards him from some details.

For example, at the Capital Airport last night, many people were shouting his name.

Also, this morning, in the freshly released major newspapers, more of his name began to appear, and there were even special reports about him, all positive.

Even when he went out in the morning to buy breakfast, pick up a newspaper, and ride his bicycle to Valdebebas, he met Real Madrid fans. Many of them recognized him, and some even took the initiative to say hello to him.

When he arrived at Valdebebas, the fans who came early to watch the team's open training recognized him from a distance and blocked him outside the small door next to the training ground. They treated him like a star, asking for photos and autographs.

All of these made Gao Shen feel very happy.

Who can truly be flattered and humiliated? A lot of times, the composure in front of people is just an act, and the heart is actually happy, and no one is exempt from it.

After finally getting rid of the enthusiastic fans and entering Valdebebas, Gao Shen saw the smiling security captain head-on. The captain had witnessed the whole process of Gao Shen's transformation from a ridiculed figure to a current hero of Real Madrid.

"Being a star is not fun at all," Gao Shen pretended to complain to the security captain while pushing his bicycle away.

The security captain, left behind, muttered in his heart: Not fun? Look how happy you are!

He looked back at the fans outside the gate. There were many young and beautiful female fans who were chasing after Gao Shen for a photo and autograph just now.

Youth is wonderful!

Back then, when I was young, I was also very handsome, and there were so many girls who liked me. At that time, I...

...

Gao Shen arrived at the coach's office in the training building.

As usual, three documents prepared for him by the team doctor, Buenaventura, and Lucas were on his desk: the player's physical report, physical fitness report, and game analysis report.

After the players arrived at the training base, the team doctors and Buenaventura would also follow up with the players.

These reports were the basis for Gao Shen and the coaching staff to formulate training plans and game arrangements, especially for the injured players.

Therefore, it was customary for the injured to report to the team one hour in advance.

Gao Shen read several reports. Real Madrid's situation was not bad at present, and injuries were well controlled.

Woodgate was an old patient, and Gao Shen had never dared to use him excessively, giving him plenty of rest time. Although the pressure of the game was very high, the pressure of internal competition was not large. Coupled with the care of the team doctor, Gao Shen's good communication with him meant Woodgate had no major injuries.

But Gao Shen didn't dare to be careless about it.

Real Madrid now had three central defenders. If Woodgate fell, it would be a disaster.

And De la Red.

The Real Madrid teenager had completely gained a firm foothold under Gao Shen, but everyone felt very strange that Gao Shen asked De la Red to have a heart check every week.

Obviously not sick, why do you still do it?

De la Red also asked Gao Shen in private, but Gao Shen really couldn't find a suitable reason, so he could only put on an air of a domineering president and answered him with three words, "I'm happy!"

Fortunately, this inspection didn't waste much time. De la Red respected Gao Shen more and more, so he could only obey.

The team would play Juventus next Wednesday night, and this game was also crucial.

After a full calculation, Real Madrid only had three days to rest. This time, Gao Shen was not planning to take a holiday. He had to hurry up and organize a targeted attack drill. The key point was to practice how to break Juventus's goal at the Bernabeu.

Buenaventura's report pointed out that the player's consumption was very high, and the next three days needed to be well-rested.

Even so, he couldn't guarantee that the team could face Juventus in the best state; he could only do his best.

Gao Shen also understood this.

Lucas recently ran between the UK and Spain. While studying data analysis, he was still working at Real Madrid. A data report every day had become his extracurricular homework.

But in today's report, in addition to some data analysis of last night's game and the statistics of players' mistakes, there was also a judgment on the future situation and a description of the team's current situation.

This morning, Gao Shen read Cruyff's column in the newspaper, which stated that there has never been a team in the history of La Liga that has successfully come back from a ten-point deficit, so he concluded that Real Madrid would not succeed.

This was not without foundation.

According to the report by Lucas, the most disparate case of winning the championship in La Liga history was in the 1998-1999 season. At that time, the chairman of Barcelona was Nunes, Gaspart was still the greatest vice-chairman of Barcelona, and Laporta was still working as his lawyer. The head coach was Van Gaal, whom Cruyff was reluctant to mention.

In the 14th round of La Liga, Barcelona trailed the leader Real Mallorca by nine points. But in the following 24 rounds, Barcelona chased all the way, creating an impressive record of 17 wins, 3 draws, and one loss in the 20 rounds, reversing the championship, and achieving the most disparate case of reversing the championship in La Liga history.

But in fact, this case is quite watered down.

Why?

Because at the end of the season, Real Mallorca, the leader at the time, only ranked third in La Liga, while Real Madrid, which was somewhat competitive to Barcelona, was only six points ahead of Barcelona at most.

Everyone could see that a team like Real Mallorca was definitely inferior to Barcelona and Real Madrid in terms of staying power.

In contrast, the other case given in the Lucas report was more recent and more violent.

That is Valencia under Benitez.

In the 2003-04 season, Valencia fell behind Real Madrid by as many as eight points after the twenty-sixth round. But in the following 12 rounds, they surpassed Real Madrid in one go with ten wins, one draw, and one loss. They locked the league championship two rounds ahead of schedule.

But in that season, Valencia had always been one of the most competitive teams in La Liga.

In the fifth round, the Bat Legion beat Super Depor and Real Madrid to the top. Although they were kicked down in the eighth round, Valencia reached the top twice in the tenth and thirteenth rounds. In the nineteenth and twentieth rounds, they also became the league leaders again.

It can be said that the Bat Legion was still very strong that season.

But things are markedly different for Real Madrid this season.

Although in the ninth and tenth rounds, Real Madrid was tied with Osasuna for the first place, the results had not been satisfactory, especially in the eighteenth round, when the ranking fell to sixth in the league, behind Barcelona by as much as 13 points.

When Gao Shen took over, he was still ten points behind Barcelona.

In terms of the league environment, the current Real Madrid is far inferior to Van Gaal's Barcelona, and in terms of overall competitiveness, Real Madrid is not as good as Benitez's Valencia.

It can be said that in terms of how bad it is, this current Real Madrid is worse than Van Gaal's Barcelona and Benitez's Valencia.

If you add that Gao Shen is Real Madrid's third head coach this season, the team has experienced infighting among superstars, gang struggles in the locker room, changes in the chairman and high-level turmoil, and Gao Shen took office at the age of 25.

It can definitely be said that so far this season, Real Madrid's experience has been classic.

But it is not enough to reverse Barcelona in the standings.

...

"How is it? Do you feel the pressure on your shoulders is heavier?"

While looking at the report and thinking deeply, Lucas walked in quietly.

Behind him was Buenaventura.

"It's really difficult," Gao Shen sighed heavily. "However, to get to this point, you have to do your best and keep pushing forward. Otherwise, all your hard work and efforts in the past will be in vain."

Lucas and Buenaventura looked at each other, and both saw admiration in each other's eyes.

Especially Buenaventura.

Although it was the first cooperation, he saw a lot of bright spots from Gao Shen, which left a deep impression on him.

"To be honest, Fernando, I don't think the examples you gave are good enough," Gao Shen clicked his tongue critically and handed the analysis report to Lucas.

"Why?"

"I missed one of the most classic and most infectious."

Lucas frowned, unable to remember.

Buenaventura had a flash of inspiration on the side and blurted out: "Manchester United in the 1995-1996 season!"

"That's right!" Gao Shen clapped his hands vigorously, and the look in Buenaventura's eyes changed a bit. The hero saw the same thing.

"Many people misrepresented, but Manchester United are not 12 points behind Newcastle."

Not only was Lucas surprised, even Buenaventura was a little surprised.

"After half the Premier League, Newcastle scored 45 points, Manchester United were second with 35 points, ten points behind. But in the 20th round, Manchester United, with goals from Cole and Keane, beat Newcastle 2-0, narrowing the gap to seven points. In the twenty-first round, Manchester United played one more game and managed to catch up to four points."

"But it's a pity that, just when it looked like they were going to surge ahead, Manchester United first lost to Tottenham Hotspur 1-4 on the road, and then drew 0-0 with Aston Villa at home. All at once, they dropped to third, nine points behind Newcastle, with one more game played than the Magpies."

The 12-point gap that many people misreported was actually because Newcastle had played one fewer game.

Gao Shen was in the tactical library last night, carefully studying Ferguson's thrilling past. He felt the various challenges that Ferguson encountered and his various coping strategies.

He finally came to a conclusion.

The real Manchester United's reversal of Newcastle was far more difficult and legendary than the rumors of chasing a twelve-point deficit suggested.

Why?

Because Ferguson's team was only four points behind at one point, but then they suffered a setback, and the gap widened again. If it were any other team, they would have collapsed long ago.

But Ferguson and Manchester United did not.

Not only did they not collapse, but the team regrouped and learned from their previous experiences. In their second pursuit of Newcastle, they overtook their opponents in one go and climbed to the top of the league.

When Gao Shen saw this episode, he wondered in his heart, does Real Madrid at this moment look like Manchester United when they first approached Newcastle?

It's similar: defeating the opponent in a direct confrontation, closing the gap with one decisive move, having morale sky-high, and victory within reach...

Right now, it feels just like that moment.