The morning training session started amid protests from Real Madrid fans.
Nearly three hundred fans came to Valdebebas, all to protest against Gao Shen.
They made a lot of noise and movement on the sidelines, which seriously affected the training of the players on the field. Raul and Guti both walked over to appease the fans, but to no avail.
Since it was a recovery training, Gao Shen still let Maquida take charge, while he stood aside and watched silently, especially paying attention to Woodgate, who was injured again a few days ago.
England's central defender has been playing intermittently in recent times. Carlo would rather use Raul Bravo than take the risk of using Woodgate. This is not entirely because of his poor performance. In fact, he has had a very good performance.
, but his fragile body makes people very worried.
Gao Shen noticed that when Woodgate participated in team training, he was obviously unable to move freely, and he was obviously under great psychological pressure and burden.
Gao Shen watched silently throughout the ninety-minute training session, which once again surprised the Real Madrid players.
Could it be that this rookie head coach really just wants to be a mascot?
Especially Raul, who knew his thoughts, was even more puzzled.
The time for the local derby is getting closer and closer. Shouldn't we start arranging targeted tactical drills at this time?
Unlike yesterday afternoon when he ran away after the training session, Gao Shen still stayed where he was after the morning training session.
He also called out to Zidane.
…
In the Real Madrid team, the Frenchman never talks much, but this does not mean that Zidane's words have no weight.
On the contrary, everyone knows that Zidane's words are often more effective than Ronaldo's.
Sometimes people are like this. Ronaldo is very willful and likes to call Florentino at every turn. He seems to have frequent contacts, but in his heart, Florentino really likes this superstar who complains at every turn and even forces an abortion?
Zidane is usually calm and doesn't bother Florentino if it's not a big deal, but this makes Florentino think more highly of him, making him an invisible figure in the Real Madrid locker room.
Boss.
No matter who he is facing, Zidane always has a calm and calm attitude, as if nothing can anger him.
Knowing Zidane's character well, he didn't hesitate and went straight to the point when no one was around.
"We received a call-up fax for the French national team."
When Zidane heard this, he raised his head and stared at Gao Shen, a trace of ridicule flashed in his eyes.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm just asking for your opinion as usual. If you want to go, I'll send a fax later. If you have other ideas, I can also help you." Gao Shen said lightly.
These words fully respected Zidane's personal wishes, and Gao Shen used the word "help" to tell Zidane that he was on Zidane's side. If he didn't want to go, Gao Shen could come out and be the villain.
Zidane is a smart man, and he immediately realized what Gao Shen meant. He raised his head and looked at Gao Shen with a slightly different look in his eyes.
He discovered that the Gao Shen in front of him was not a rookie or a pustule.
"After Domenech took office, he promoted the youth reform of the national team. The average age has dropped a lot and they are more energetic. However, they lack experience, so recently he has recruited a group of experienced veterans again, which requires running-in.
." Zidane explained.
As early as after the European Cup in 2004, Zidane had already retired from the national team, but Domenech later persuaded him to come back.
Everyone can see that Zidane's goal is the World Cup in Germany.
In the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, they were eliminated in the group stage, which was humiliating for a superstar of Zidane's level.
He wants to avenge his shame!
"From November to May last year, we only had this warm-up match." Zidane said lightly.
Gao Shen nodded, "I understand, I'll send a fax when I get back."
"Thank you." Zidane's tone was still very calm.
Seeing that the French superstar was about to turn around and leave, Gao Shen suddenly spoke again.
"You competed for France in the World Cup in Germany with the goal of not leaving any regrets. What about Real Madrid?"
Zidane frowned and looked at Gao Shen angrily, "What do you mean? Do you doubt my professional ethics?"
"No, you misunderstood." Gao Shen smiled kindly, "I never doubted your professional ethics. I was just wondering, are you willing to end your Real Madrid career like this?"
Zidane was a little silent.
What level of superstar is he?
In the past ten years, after Maradona, he and Ronaldo have been the strongest.
Superstars at their level are all arrogant and even arrogant. This is normal.
Without this kind of domineering momentum, how can you stand up at the critical moment of the game?
"I believe you have also seen that we are currently ten points behind Barcelona and two points behind Valencia, but we have Celta Vigo and Osasuna chasing after us. If we are not careful, we may not be able to secure the top four.
, but if we can work harder and push forward, it is not completely impossible to even threaten Barcelona's top position."
After a pause, Gao Shen reminded again: "There are still thirteen rounds in the league, and there is still a second round in the Champions League. What do you think?"
Zidane understood what Gao Shen meant and was a little surprised, because he originally thought that Gao Shen would do his best to suppress the superstars, including himself, but he did not expect that Gao Shen would take the initiative to tell him this.
"Didn't you just declare war on the superstar yesterday?" Zidane's tone was still calm.
Gao Shen chuckled, "The media always likes to write articles like this. What I'm saying is that some players don't deserve to wear Real Madrid's jersey, but that doesn't include you, because I know you have great feelings for this team. You
It’s here that you reached the peak of your career, and this will be your lifelong memory.”
Zidane was silent again, because what Gao Shen said was absolutely correct.
His national team career was brilliant, but in club, Real Madrid was his peak. His career completed a transformation here, especially Florentino.
"I believe that you would never want this memory of yours to end in disgrace, right?"
The profound question left Zidane speechless.
Why did he choose to retire this summer?
It is because he is extremely disappointed with the current situation of Real Madrid. He feels that if he continues to play, he will just repeat the mistakes of the past three years. For him, instead of enjoying the fun of playing football, it is more like torture.
kind of humiliation.
The profound words touched his heart, but so what?
"What do you think you can change?" Zidane is such an arrogant person. When Gao Shen told the central issue to his face, he immediately made a strong counterattack.
Gao Shen didn't feel dissatisfied, but was a little happy because he mentioned Zidane's weakness.
"I don't know what I can change. Many people say that I won't be able to stay in this position for long, but I feel that I always have to do something, and I have always felt that a team like Real Madrid will eventually
What is lacking is not a great head coach, but a head coach who can bring the players together and work together for a goal."
After Gao Shen finished speaking, he said with a free and easy smile: "Maybe I will leave get out of class after losing to Atletico Madrid this week, maybe I will win. Anyway, as long as I am still there, I will do something within my ability and not leave any regrets for myself." , what do you think?”
Zidane stared at Gao Shen, as if he wanted to detect something in his eyes. Finally, he left a faint word, turned around and left.
"Let's wait until you can secure your position."
Watching the French superstar leave, Gao Shen smiled slightly.
He saw it and Zidane remained neutral.
…
After sending Zidane away, Gao Shen went straight to the medical room.
Sure enough, the team doctor was there to conduct physical examinations on several injured players in the team, which was also a routine matter after training.
Gao Shen casually asked about the status of several injured players with concern, but the focus was on Woodgate.
The team doctor is quite satisfied with the physical condition of the England central defender and there is basically no serious problem.
He was injured in the first leg of the Champions League knockout round of 16 against Arsenal in the ninth minute.
Woodgate joined Real Madrid in August 2004, but he has been recovering from injuries since April. The day before signing with Real Madrid, he was still receiving treatment in Munich, but Real Madrid still chose to sign him, which shows that they attach great importance to him.
degree.
After joining, he did not do a good job in recovery training. He was injured in training as soon as he joined, and then he was injured again and again. His debut was delayed until September 2005, which was the fourth round of this season, against Bilbao at home.
Atlético, he started the game and scored an own goal in the 25th minute, causing the team to fall behind.
Since then, Woodgate's playing time has become intermittent. Even after the head coach was replaced, Carlo was very cautious in using him, mainly because he was out for a long time.
This situation lasted until the end of January. In the 21st round of the league, Real Madrid challenged Celta Vigo away. At halftime, Danish midfielder Gravesson was injured. Woodgate came on as a substitute, and Helguera was pushed to the midfield.
As a result, Real Madrid's defense improved greatly in the second half. Not only did they not concede any more goals, they instead scored a goal, defeating Celta Vigo 2-1.
Immediately afterwards, they defeated Espanyol 4-0 at home and defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-0 away. They conceded no goals in two consecutive games. After Woodgate became the main force, Real Madrid's defense made a very obvious improvement.
The most typical example is the Copa del Rey, where they lost 6-1 to Zaragoza in the first round. The main central defenders were Helguera and Ramos. However, after using the combination of Ramos and Woodgate in the second round, Real Madrid returned to home and lost 4-0.
Zero completes his revenge.
It can be said that these three games in late January and early February proved Woodgate's strength and convinced everyone that he was a trustworthy player in Real Madrid's defense.
Unexpectedly, in the subsequent first leg of the Champions League against Arsenal, Woodgate was injured within nine minutes of playing, and Real Madrid lost to the Gunners 0-1 at home.
In the following two games, Woodgate failed to make the squad, and Carlo even did not hesitate to use Raul Bravo as central defender.
What many people don't know is that, leaving aside the Arsenal game, Woodgate has played 13 games for Real Madrid this season, playing 891 minutes, with 11 wins, one draw and one loss, and five losses.
Three goals were conceded in the away game against Deportivo La Coruna, and in the remaining twelve games, only two goals were conceded.
Among them was an own goal scored by Woodgate himself.
Again, without injury, Woodgate would be a world-class central defender.
Gao Shen also clearly remembers that this glass man who couldn't play football at Real Madrid turned into the backbone of Middlesbrough's defense after moving to Middlesbrough, showing a superb level.
, and returned to the England national team.
So what was it about his performances at Real Madrid and Middlesbrough that led to such disparate performances?
