Choose optimism, this is a credo of Ferguson's coaching.
Football is a very special sport. No matter how strong the team is, no matter how good the head coach is, there will be a moment when they lose.
In fact, the stronger you are, the easier it is to lose at critical moments.
How to deal with losing is a skill that all mature head coaches must learn.
Choosing optimism does not mean blindly ignoring the facts, but looking at the facts rationally and rigorously, and finding the best ways and means to change and improve.
Just like at this moment, standing in front of the home team's coaching bench at Old Trafford, Ferguson looked at Gao Shen who rushed out from the away team's coaching bench, as well as the Naples players, watching them cheer and celebrate crazily on the court.
He felt very uncomfortable, but he didn't have too many negative emotions.
Judging from the two rounds of the game, Manchester United's overall strength does not have any advantage, and may even be slightly inferior to Naples.
Gao Shen has built a very strong, very unique team that fully reflects his personal coaching style.
He found his own "Tao".
Next, what he needs to do is to continuously improve and enhance his "Tao".
As for Manchester United, their performance was actually not that bad.
If Manchester United performs poorly, there is no way they can reach the Champions League semi-finals.
These two rounds of games exposed Manchester United's problems, but they also told Ferguson the direction of the team's change and improvement.
Ronaldo is leaving, and it will be time for Ferguson to quarrel with the management and the Glazer family behind the scenes.
How much of the transfer fee left by the Portuguese can be converted into funds for the team's signings?
This is what Ferguson needs to focus on now.
Champions League?
it's over!
…
Gao Shen just lost his composure temporarily.
He quickly came to his senses and shouted to the players to restrain themselves. After all, this was still Old Trafford.
When he walked back to the sidelines, he found Ferguson already standing there waiting for him.
"Congratulations, young man!" Ferguson smiled and extended his hand.
"Thank you, Jazz." Gao Shen held Ferguson's hand.
"You played really well in the second round. You deserved to advance." Ferguson graciously admitted that his skills were inferior to others.
Gao Shen smiled without being modest.
In his mind, Napoli did play better tonight.
He actually didn't know what to say, especially at this moment, in this situation.
"In the 19th century, the famous British writer Rudyard Kipling once said, 'Facing luck and misfortune calmly, and being open-minded about illusory victory and defeat, honor and disgrace.'" Ferguson smiled calmly and said.
"There are many people who forget everything when they are successful, and feel lost when they are frustrated. When things are going well, they feel that they are invincible. When they encounter setbacks, they feel like they are falling into the abyss, worrying that they will not be able to escape."
When Gao Shen heard this, he understood Ferguson's good intentions.
"In psychology, this is called 'distorted thought'." Gao Shen took over.
Ferguson was a little surprised.
Gao Shen raised his eyebrows and said, "As I said, I studied psychology on my own."
Ferguson couldn't help laughing. He felt more and more that Gao Shen was actually a very interesting young man.
Of course, it's not that fun when you beat him.
"From a utilitarian point of view, I have two Champions Leagues and you only have one. I should be qualified to give you a few words of advice, but I lost to you tonight. But I think, if I don't say anything now, I won't say anything later.
There may be no chance."
Gao Shen smiled and nodded.
What Ferguson meant was that if Gao Shen won the Champions League in Rome, then Gao Shen would also have two Champions Leagues, which is almost the same as Ferguson.
It would be even harder for the old Scotsman to be so shameless.
"No matter what, no matter when, you speak and I listen." Gao Shen said humbly.
"I believe you understand the principle of not being frightened by favor or disgrace. Otherwise, you would not be where you are today. But you must never make that mistake in the first round again." Ferguson looked at Gao Shen and said sincerely.
"Last time, someone told me privately that he also admired me. As a result, his team reversed us 2-1 in the first round at home and tied us 1-1 at Old Trafford.
, directly eliminated me from the top 16."
"Now, you also said that you are my fan. As a result, I was eliminated from the semi-finals with 1-1 in the first round and 2-0 in the second round..."
When he said this, Ferguson shook his head helplessly and laughed bitterly.
"I dare to die at the hands of my own fans!"
Gao Shen was also happy.
Although Ferguson didn't name him, judging from the score, he knew it was Mourinho.
When Mourinho was coaching Porto, he eliminated Ferguson's Manchester United in the round of sixteen.
"In the finals, be careful with Barcelona. This team is not easy to play. To be honest, I don't have any good ideas. I either have to defend tightly, or I have to keep up with their rhythm of passing and controlling the ball..."
When Ferguson said this, he shook his head helplessly.
Judging from his appearance, in fact, even if he reaches the final, facing Barcelona, which has such outstanding passing and ball control abilities, he probably won't have any good ideas.
Therefore, it really doesn't make much difference to him whether he falls in the semi-finals or the finals.
…
Gao Shen and Ferguson stood on the sidelines for nearly ten minutes and chatted a lot.
When he came to Manchester this time, Gao Shen specially brought two boxes of wine produced by Chilean wineries to Ferguson.
Gao Shen didn't say it was his own, he just said it was a famous Chilean red wine brand. He asked a friend to bring it to Ferguson for him to try, and he would have someone send it to him later.
Although he lost the game, he earned two boxes of famous Chilean wine. Ferguson's mood improved a lot and he thanked him.
Being soft-handed when taking advantage of others and short-tongued when admonishing others, Ferguson could only give Gao Shen some suggestions, all of which were against Barcelona in the Champions League final.
In the first leg of the semi-finals, Barcelona had already defeated Liverpool 3-1 away from home. It was certain that they would advance to the final. The master-disciple showdown between Gao Shen and Guardiola was also a highlight of the Champions League final.
But a master and a disciple are masters, and Guardiola is coaching a giant Barcelona, and it is Barcelona at its peak in history.
The pressure faced by Gao Shen is still very high.
As Ferguson said, either you have to tighten your formation like Chelsea or Inter Milan did in their previous lives, defend tightly, and then attack Barcelona through counterattacks; or you have to go all out and play against Barcelona.
The former is too negative and passive, and the ball possession rate is almost suppressed to 20 to 30%.
With a lineup as young as Naples, with an average age in their early twenties, Gao Shen is not sure whether they can hold on for ninety minutes under Barcelona's high-pressure tactics like Inter Milan and Chelsea.
Moreover, in the past three years, although Naples has changed its tactics, it has rarely adopted such rigid defensive tactics.
Another way is to attack Barcelona with high pressure and pressure, but this requires that Naples players must be able to keep up with Barcelona's rhythm during the game.
Just like Heynckes' Bayern Munich team.
But now, Napoli faces a Barcelona that is stronger than in 2013 and is in peak condition.
how to spell?
Gao Shen already had a general framework and ideas in mind.
After all, Gao Shen had thought about this issue a lot when Guardiola was working for him as his assistant, and he had always regarded Guardiola's Barcelona as an imaginary enemy, but now he has to put it into practice.
…
The game is over!
Naples defeated Manchester United 2-0 in an away game, reversed the Red Devils with a total score of 3-1, and successfully advanced to the Champions League final.
In the stands of the Old Trafford Stadium, in the crowd of Manchester United fans who were leaving the stadium, Manchester City's young chairman Mubarak was paying attention to the visiting team's coaching bench, talking to Ferguson in depth, and said with excitement: "
He is our ideal manager at Manchester City!"
"No matter what, we must invite him here!"
"Only he can lead our Manchester City to rise and compete with Manchester United and all Premier League teams!"
At Bayern's headquarters on Sebena Street in Munich, Bayern's Big Three also watched the game and were all very surprised.
They never expected that Napoli could eliminate Manchester United in the semi-finals.
Gao Shen actually defeated Ferguson in this direct dialogue, which is enough to prove Gao Shen's coaching level and the competitiveness of the Napoli team he brought out.
What's even more commendable is that there are many players in this Naples team who are extremely talented and hard to put down.
"Such a head coach should not stay in Naples any longer!" Beckenbauer said with admiration.
"He should go to a broader stage to further enhance his career achievements, such as a wealthy family!"
Rummenigge and Hoeness also nodded.
Bayern has always been paying attention to Gao Shen, but they are also worried about his age and experience. Therefore, they had contacted Louis van Gaal, the head coach of AZ Alkmaar in the Eredivisie, and the two sides had very in-depth discussions. But now, Gao Shen leads Naples to kill
Entering the Champions League final, and possibly even winning the championship, surprised Bayern's three giants and also changed their minds.
If Naples wins the championship, Gao Shen will have two Champions League titles in his hands and will be considered the top coach in Europe!
Among the active head coaches in European football today, only Ferguson and Ancelotti have achieved such an achievement.
If Gao Shen did it, it would be really incredible!
"We should reconsider it," Beckenbauer suggested.
Rummenigge and Hoeness both nodded in agreement.
Far away in Madrid, Florentino had just watched the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals and felt very mixed emotions.
He realized that he seemed to have made some serious mistake.
In other words, he still underestimated Gao Shen.
Barcelona has performed very strongly in La Liga this season. Whether it is Real Madrid or other teams, it is difficult to compete with Barcelona.
Under such circumstances, when Florentino returns to Real Madrid, he will definitely have to directly confront Barcelona.
Florentino was thinking of superstars, but he knew that his recruitment strategy would not be agreed to by the senior players, or not all of them would agree, so he wanted to get things done first.
But now it seems that he has become passive instead.
Now, what is he going to talk about with Gao Shen?
If Gao Shen really wins the Champions League, will he still care about coaching Real Madrid?
The coach who has won two Champions League gold medals will probably ask Real Madrid or even Florentino himself to come and invite him.
