Starting With Real Madrid

Chapter 90: If You Have the Ability, Scold Gao Shen!

  

From the press conference after the game, it can be seen that the Spanish media and Real Madrid fans have conflicting feelings towards Gao Shen.

On the one hand, since Gao Shen took over the team, the results have skyrocketed, winning consecutive battles, whether it is reversing Arsenal, beating Barcelona away, eliminating Juventus in two rounds, or even shortening the gap in the standings.

These results are picked out randomly and put on other teams in other leagues, which are all talked about by fans.

But Gao Shen coached Real Madrid, the greatest giant of the twentieth century.

Real Madrid, coached by Gao Shen, played too conservatively, even if there were few goals, the game process was generally dull, and many games even made people drowsy and couldn't be motivated at all.

Is this the Real Madrid that fans and the media are familiar with?

But the crux of the contradiction lies in the fact that the media and fans themselves know it.

After so much turmoil this season and so many games, they all know clearly that Real Madrid's current strength is no longer the galactic battleship that was invincible in European football at its peak.

The Galaxy battleship was on the verge of sinking, and Figo was sold to Inter Milan.

Therefore, the media and fans are aware of the current situation of the team, and also know that the advanced approach is a wise choice, but they just can't accept it, they just can't help but want to scold.

Because this is not what they want and expect from Real Madrid.

Are they scolding Gao Shen?

No, they scold ruthless reality.

The unfortunate Maqueda did not receive the applause and flowers he expected at the press conference. Instead, he was speechless when asked by the angry media. In particular, a well-known media in Madrid stood up directly and pointed at Maqueda's nose and roared: "We don't want to see you, call out Gao Shen!"

At that moment, Maqueda's heart collapsed.

I'm just an unfortunate tool man, why do you have to embarrass me like this?

If you have the ability, you can scold Gao Shen!

...

The next day, a very interesting scene appeared in the major Spanish media again.

Supporting Gao Shen's reports and comments, and criticizing Gao Shen's reports and comments once again started a war of words.

The supporters headed by Alfredo believe that Gao Shen's performance in Real Madrid is satisfactory enough. With Real Madrid's current situation, it is already quite a rare achievement to be able to reach the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Alfredo even questioned in the column, "I don't know, with the team's current situation, how can they ask a coach who takes over halfway to bring the team back to the top?"

"Even Bosque, who they talked about with relish, when he took over the team for 2000, didn't he rely on the defensive counterattack of the five backs to finally win the Champions League?"

But doubters believe that the biggest problem with Gao Shen is that he is very conservative.

From the battle at the Bernabeu, especially in about 80 minutes, it is not difficult to see that Real Madrid has the strength and ability to threaten Juventus, but Gao Shen paid attention to defense from beginning to end, and was unwilling to invest in the offensive end.

As for the well-designed goal by Gao Shen, they thought it was an accidental mistake by Juventus.

"Juventus' mistake made Real Madrid's goal, but without this Juventus mistake, would Gao Shen and Capello play 0-0 and finally enter extra time and a penalty shootout?"

"This should be a high probability event!"

The doubters believe that Real Madrid has the ability to control the game, compete for control, and actively create more scoring opportunities, but Gao Shen rejected this possibility. He blindly adopted a conservative attitude, with a solid defense, waiting for opponent's mistake.

"It's an ugly victory!"

Not only are the media divided into two factions, even Real Madrid's famous stars are also divided into two factions.

For example, Real Madrid star Mijatovic said in an interview with the media that Real Madrid's promotion is gratifying, but the team's playing style is really disappointing, "We could have played better and more aggressively."

Also the former head coach of Real Madrid, Bosque, who was once thought to be a candidate for Real Madrid's head coach, was rarely interviewed by the media. He said that Gao Shen's coaching at Real Madrid left a deep impression on people.

"I don't think it's fair to judge him because he's done a good job, but he's still been criticized, and a lot of people are ignoring his contribution to the team."

Bosque believes that he never believed that the two Real Madrid in 2000 and 2002 won the Champions League with stars.

"I can't define who I got my first Champions League with Real Madrid, Savio? Redondo? Raul? Morientes? Helguera or someone else? I can also tell everyone with great certainty. My second Champions League with Real Madrid is definitely not just about Zidane and Figo."

But Bosque said that was the status quo at Real Madrid.

More and more media and fans are chasing Real Madrid because of the stars, not the team itself. They only value the stars and completely ignore the contributions of others, even the manager, to the team.

"I have heard people say more than once that Real Madrid, which is full of superstars, is turning into a team that can only play in the opening ceremony and can't be seen until the closing ceremony. This is not normal, and now, our young coach is trying to bring this team to the closing ceremonies, and as a result, the media and fans who say they support and love Real Madrid are blaming him."

"I couldn't understand the phenomenon, but I had to come forward and speak my mind."

Bosque stands out with a clear-cut stand, expressing his support for Gao Shen.

Former Real Madrid coach Camacho also stood up and supported Bosque's statement, believing that the profound proposition was right.

The current Manchester United assistant coach and former Real Madrid coach Queiroz also said in an interview with the media in the UK that what Gao Shen encountered, he also experienced when he was at Real Madrid before, it was a nightmare.

Even Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger, who was knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid not long ago, spoke out for Gao Shen in London, believing that the media was too harsh on Gao Shen, "With the current lineup and age structure of Real Madrid, if you want to play beautifully, winning the game again, that's an almost impossible task."

Wenger even jokingly said, "Gao Shen should regret it a little now, he should let Real Madrid fall to the last sixteen."

It has to be said that what Wenger said is also a truth.

The successive victories have made many people unrealistic, forgetting what kind of situation Real Madrid was in before Gao Shen took over. They just can't help but scold and be picky.

This is called forgetting the pain after the scar heals.

...

Unlike the polarization of public opinion in Spain, in Europe, especially Italy, the media is very unified.

That is, the profound Real Madrid completed two excellent duels, not to mention Capello's Juventus, but also eliminated the Bianconeri from the Champions League through a well-designed goal.

Authoritative media, including L'Equipe and Bild, all praised Real Madrid when they mentioned it.

But for Capello's Juventus, all the media have given accusations, the most important thing is to accuse Juventus of its business philosophy and Capello's use of troops.

Turin Sports Daily put Capello and Zlatan Ibrahimovic as the two main culprits of the team's defeat.

Needless to say Capello, his two rounds of conservatism were criticized to be completely broken.

Although Juventus is invincible in Serie A, when it comes to the Champions League, it has stopped in the top eight in a row. With such a lineup configuration, it is absolutely not right. The Bianconeri is fully capable of winning the Champions League.

But Capello's conservatism ruined Juventus's great situation.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's biggest problem is that he did not meet the expectations of the outside world, especially at the Bernabeu. There was only one shot in the whole game. This is definitely not the performance that a Juventus striker should have. He is not worthy of the fans' praise and expectations.

"If his feet were half as hard as his tone, he would have broken Real Madrid's goal long ago," mocked the Turin Sports Daily.

The French L'Equipe has a bigger perspective and believes that the two-leg match between Juventus and Real Madrid fully reflects the urgent need for a tactical innovation in today's Serie A.

L'Equipe believes that Juventus' 4-4-2 looks uncompetitive in front of Real Madrid's 4-2-3-1.

"It's no coincidence that Capello's team has fallen to 4-2-3-1 again this season after losing to Liverpool in 4-2-3-1 last season."

L'Equipe believes that there are obvious weaknesses and deficiencies in high-level teams, that is, the players' lack of running ability and inability to achieve wide-range running and high-level pressing like Liverpool, but their defense is still very well organized.

"Capello said in the post-match press conference that Juventus was eliminated because of the midfield loss, and the midfield loss, Capello believes, is caused by the team's lineup, because he did not have a Zidane."

"It has to be said that Capello's complaints are justified. Juventus have not brought in a high-level creative midfielder since they sent Zidane, so he was forced to let Nedved appear in the middle and left the left empty."

"This is not a current situation, but one caused by the overall philosophy of Juventus. As a European giant, Juventus has performed very well in Serie A, but in the Champions League, they have only won two titles, despite having five runner-up finishes."

The team report provides data showing that Juventus has participated in the Champions League final seven times, which is second only to Real Madrid's 12 and AC Milan's 10 in the history of the Champions League, and tied with Bayern Munich.

Bayern has won four Champions League titles.

The team newspaper said that the problem with Juventus is that this team is too conservative and needs a revolutionary tactical innovation to inject fresh energy into the team and make it reborn to keep up with today's tactical trends.

Regarding Real Madrid, L'Equipe believes that the high-level will be the biggest surprise and upset in European football this season.

"At the beginning of his tenure, no one in the world believed that he could lead the team out of trouble, but now, he has surprised everyone. Even when facing the world's top coaches like Wenger and Capello, he can hold his own, which is the most surprising."

"He deserves more respect and recognition!"