In his office at St. James' Park, Ancelotti raised a glass of wine and greeted Gao Shen politely.
Standing next to him were Ancelotti's son, son-in-law, and Leeds United coach Pochettino. Gao Shen held a bottle of water, raised it, and touched it with Ancelotti.
"You are my idol. You have to maintain your character and don't say these things."
Gao Shen's words made everyone present laugh.
He has indeed said to the outside world more than once that he likes Ancelotti's football very much.
But Ancelotti's gratitude to Gao Shen also comes from the bottom of his heart.
In this life, Ancelotti's achievements are far less impressive than those in his previous life.
After leaving get out of class at Paris Saint-Germain, he failed at Bayern Munich. Later, he also briefly coached Naples, but it was also unsuccessful, so Ancelotti was idle at home.
During this period, the only teams that invited him were teams like Everton, and those top giants basically stayed away from him.
Real Madrid did find him, but Ancelotti knew very well that if he went to coach Real Madrid, he would probably die, so he didn't go.
Last summer, when Gao Shen took over Newcastle, he first had a private chat with Ancelotti and the two sides reached some consensus.
It turns out that this is a good choice.
Newcastle has become one of the most impressive dark horse teams in the Premier League this season.
This is not only because of the large investment of the Saudi consortium, but also because of Gao Shen’s support.
Needless to say, Osimhen, Rafinha is simply a gem.
Only Ancelotti knows in his heart that Saint-Maximin on the left, Rafinha on the right, and Osimhen in front. Such an attacking combination, let alone the Premier League, can be tolerated when looking at European football.
There are only a few teams here.
The team's midfield is also not weak, and the defense has been greatly improved.
Today's Newcastle, although it still has shortcomings and flaws, has basically taken shape.
Ancelotti came to coach Newcastle with the aura of being the world's top coach, and his annual salary is also very high. Now the team's performance has improved and its performance has been completely transformed. For Ancelotti, this can be said to be a career comeback.
Based on his current coaching performance at Newcastle, as long as he keeps playing well this season, he can definitely coach a wealthy team.
Of course, with the help of Gaoshen's complete system, the possibility of collapse is extremely slim.
It is precisely because of this that Ancelotti is very grateful to Gao Shen.
Not only because Gao Shen gave him such a high-paying job, but also because Gao Shen successfully helped his career turn around.
No one knows better than Ancelotti how difficult it is to get your career back once it goes downhill.
"Just now, I talked with the Saudi side. I personally suggest that Newcastle should continue to accumulate steadily, but I have seen Newcastle's performance this season. To be honest, I have full confidence in you."
"If you need anything, just ask. With targeted reinforcements to the lineup this summer, Newcastle will definitely be stronger next season than now." Gao Shen encouraged.
Ancelotti nodded, mainly because Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal all have problems now.
It is said to be the Big8, but in fact, Leeds United is as stable as ever, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle are both newcomers, and Liverpool's performance is somewhat unstable. This is also a typical problem of Klopp's team.
Even Manchester City is now beginning to expose the hidden dangers of updating and iterating the team's lineup.
It can be said that the next two years will definitely be an excellent opportunity for Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle to rise and break into the top four.
The speaker has no intention, but the listener has intention.
Gao Shen and Ancelotti have been friends for many years, and they don't speak politely to each other. Naturally, they don't think there is any problem. However, from the ears of Pochettino and others, this is not the case at all.
Many people seriously underestimate Gao Shen's connections and prestige in European football. A very important reason is that he is from China.
Everyone thinks, how much prestige can a head coach from a weak football country have?
But what about the reality?
Gao Shen has stayed the longest in La Liga and the Premier League. Needless to say, let’s talk about Serie A. Among the new generation of famous coaches today, Conte, Sarri, Allegri and Pioli were all the top coaches back then.
I grew up listening to advanced classes and even going to Naples to watch advanced training classes.
And whether it's Ancelotti, Spalletti, or anyone else in Italy, they all have a very good relationship with Gao Shen.
From these we can see Gao Shen's status and influence in Italian football.
In the Bundesliga, a similar situation exists. Klopp, Tuchel, and even Loew of the national team, the best new generation coach in Germany, are all advanced disciples or followers.
All these have given Gao Shen great influence and personal prestige in European football.
Before you know it, Gaoshen has become a mountain that everyone looks up to.
…
Three days after playing Newcastle, Leeds United challenged Leicester City away.
This is the 21st round of the Premier League.
After conceding a goal first, Leeds United relied on goals from Rashford, Foden and Musiala to reverse Leicester City 3-1 in the away game and once again won three precious points.
Being able to maintain a high momentum of progress during continuous rotations further affirms Leeds United's strength.
It is worth mentioning that after Christmas, Manchester United first ushered in three consecutive draws. Then, although they beat Fulham 2-1 in an away game, they first drew with Liverpool and then lost at home to bottom-ranked Sheffield United.
Field United drew again with Arsenal away from home in this round.
After 21 rounds of the Premier League, Manchester United is still ranked 13th. This is something that everyone can't believe.
Arsenal is ranked 11th, separated from Manchester United by Southampton.
Chelsea is ranked 9th, separated from Arsenal by Aston Villa.
This season's Premier League standings are really interesting.
No one thought that Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United, three teams that were in trouble, could decline so sharply.
…
However, in the 22nd match of the Premier League three days later, Manchester United finally gained strength and beat Southampton 6-0 at home. This was the best game Manchester United has played in recent times.
But it has also been met with great skepticism.
Because only one minute into the game, Southampton's main midfielder Jankovec was sent off with a red card. In the second half, main defender Bednarek, who scored an own goal in the first half, was also sent off with a red card. Then Manchester United continued to
Scored three goals.
This also caused many media to question the value of Manchester United's victory, because it is really rare to give the opponent a red card at the beginning of the game at Old Trafford.
Coincidentally, in an away match against Wolves, Arsenal received two red cards in a row after scoring a goal first, and were reversed 2-1 by their opponents. The Gunners were also in a state of shock.
Leeds United defeated Everton 2-1 at home and once again scored three points.
Tottenham Hotspur defeated Chelsea 1-0 in the London derby.
But Liverpool lost 0-1 at home to Brighton.
The Premier League is in trouble, and strong teams are not immune.
…
At the weekend, Leeds United defeated Wolves 2-0 away in the FA Cup knockout round of 16.
This time, Pochettino played with a rotating lineup, but players such as Kvaratskhelia, Musiala, and Pedri who had performed well in the FA Cup all got the starting start.
In the end it was Kvarackhelia who scored his first goal for Leeds United.
Three days later, back in the Premier League, Leeds United sat at home and defeated Crystal Palace 2-0.
The goals were scored by Haaland and Sancho.
Over the weekend, in the 24th round of the Premier League, Leeds United traveled south to London and visited the Emirates Stadium.
Talking about Arsenal, they have lost two and drawn one in the last three rounds. Their performance is really bad. Their league ranking has been reversed by Manchester United, ranking 12th in the Premier League. On the contrary, the Red Devils ranked 10th.
It is definitely not a good thing for the Gunners to welcome Leeds United under such circumstances.
But now Leeds United is fighting on two fronts continuously, and at the same time they will go to Barcelona to challenge Barcelona away from home in the middle of next week.
This is the first leg of the Champions League knockout round of 16. As a guest at Camp Nou, Leeds United must give its best.
Therefore, when Pochettino faced Arsenal, he chose to rotate significantly to give the main players time to rest.
As a result, in the first 13 minutes, Xhaka assisted Aubameyang and scored a goal.
In the 41st minute, Saka once again provided an assist, helping Aubameyang score twice.
Both times it was a quick counterattack to hit the back, the routine was exactly the same.
Before the end of the first half, Reece James got a goal back for Leeds United after receiving a pass from Joan Armene.
But just at the beginning of the second half, Aubameyang scored another goal and performed a hat trick.
Falling behind 3-1, Leeds United had to make adjustments. Pochettino even substituted three attackers in succession, including Ansu Fati, to strengthen the frontcourt pressure and attack on Arsenal.
In the 58th minute, after Foden broke into the right side of the penalty area, the inverted triangle passed back to the front of the penalty area. Joan Armene fired an angry shot and broke through Arsenal's goal, getting a goal back for Leeds United.
Two to three!
Ten minutes later, Alvarez, who came on as a substitute, sent a wonderful pass in the penalty area. Ansu Fati scored the Arsenal goal with a kick and successfully tied the score, 3 to 3!
After that, Leeds United continued to launch a fierce attack.
After conceding two goals in a row, Arsenal had to strengthen its defense, and the scene turned into a one-sided pressing battle by Leeds United.
But in the end, the White Roses failed to score again at the Emirates Stadium, and the two sides ended in a 3-3 draw.
This game indeed exposed many problems of Leeds United, especially after continuous battles and a large rotation of the team, the team had some problems on the defensive end.
The combination of two central defenders, Saliba and Gvadiol, did not perform reassuringly.
But the team's offense is still very impressive.
As for Arsenal, their home draw with Leeds United 3-3 was not a good thing at all for the Gunners.
Because of this game, Leeds United did not try their best at all, and did not even show up the main lineup. Instead, they gathered their strength and prepared to go to Barcelona.
But even so, the Gunners still couldn't win Leeds United, which made Arteta quite dissatisfied.
On the contrary, Leeds United was able to draw with Arsenal even though they were two goals behind. Everyone in the White Rose gained confidence.
Everyone is full of confidence in the battle at Camp Nou!
