When the first round of the Champions League group stage at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester was in full swing, Florentino, accompanied by his assistants Redondo and Butragueno, was watching in the president's office at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid.
This focus battle.
Zidane, who was originally the chairman's adviser, should also be there, but the relationship between Valdano and Mourinho was very tense. Florentino was afraid that they would have another conflict in Manchester, so he asked Zidane to accompany him.
Valdano led the expedition.
Even if something happens, you can still be a peacemaker.
Florentino originally wanted to attack the fan club's headquarters and watch the game with them, but after much deliberation, he finally chose the Bernabeu office.
He had a vague sense of ominous premonition.
With Real Madrid's current state and morale, it may be difficult for them to face Manchester City away from home.
Who would have thought that captain Casillas would even be excluded from the squad by Mourinho?
After conceding a goal, despite being passive on the scene, Real Madrid still held on in a thrilling manner.
In today's European football, in terms of positional warfare, all the strong teams are very tight on defense, and Mourinho is one of them. There is no need to worry about this.
The real trouble comes when switching between offense and defense.
That is the most critical time.
But on the scene, Real Madrid was still very passive.
Regardless of the score, the situation, ball possession rate, or shooting opportunities, Real Madrid is at a disadvantage.
And it's the kind of disadvantage where people can see the difference at a glance.
The stars that Florentino is proud of failed to bring changes to the team in this situation.
This made Florentino very strange.
"Why?" the Real Madrid president asked Butragueno.
As one of the Five Eagles, Butragueno was once the best professional player, and his understanding of football is also unique.
Perhaps, his coaching ability is not great, but watching football is definitely no problem.
"The most obvious thing is that our frontcourt players are definitely not inferior to Manchester City in terms of personal ability, and some are even better than Manchester City, such as Cristiano Ronaldo."
The combination of Cristiano Ronaldo, Adebayor and Di Maria, and the combination of Gareth Bale, Suarez and Robben of Manchester City, purely from the perspective of player ability, Real Madrid may be inferior, but it is certainly not
As for what the big difference is.
Especially Cristiano Ronaldo, who is the only superstar in world football today who can rival Messi.
But why is Real Madrid's disadvantage so obvious on the court?
"The answer lies in our tactics." Butragueno gave the answer.
"First of all, our midfielder lacks control, and the frontcourt players also lack contact with each other, which makes it difficult for them to cooperate effectively, and they are more likely to fight alone."
"For example, if Cristiano Ronaldo is on the left, he is at best Adebayor, but Di Maria's position is too far to the right because he wants to create width, but in this way, our offensive players cannot communicate with each other.
Form effective connections.”
Florentino nodded, "Isn't it the same for Manchester City?"
"No, if you look at Manchester City, the ball is on Gareth Bale's side. Robben usually appears on the right rib, not close to the right sideline. Their offensive width does not require wingers to bear it, but full-backs.
.”
"And you can pay attention to the fact that two players, Rakitic and Yaya Toure, often press forward. They are not afraid of losing the ball in the frontcourt, because as soon as the ball is lost, they immediately counterattack."
Combined with the game that just happened, Florentino had to say that Butragueno's analysis was very pertinent.
"Can we do the same?" Florentino asked with concern.
"Of course, just having such a head coach will do. This will take a long time, and it will also require a certain range of reorganization, but given the current situation of the team, it is very difficult."
"Our current locker room is beginning to show signs of cliques again. You should know that once this situation occurs, you can't expect the players to work together on the court. They are separated from each other and cannot fully trust each other.
"
Trust on the court is the most precious, and once it is destroyed, it is difficult to rebuild.
The so-called trust means that the players in the frontcourt dare to move forward because they know that their teammates behind them will support them.
The backline players also dare to press forward because they know that once the ball is lost, the frontcourt players will counterattack on the spot, helping them create time to defend in time.
But once this trust is gone, offensive players dare not move forward, defensive players dare not take risks, and everyone is worried about gains and losses.
They may even blame each other.
"In addition, in our entire midfield and frontcourt tactics, there is one node that is very problematic, that is, the attacking midfielder."
The more Butragueno thinks about it now, the more he realizes how wise and forward-looking Gao Shen's judgment was.
"Our No. 10 player hardly participates in defense. You can see that even Ronaldo retreated, and he only ran around symbolically."
When I bought him, I already knew what kind of player he was.
But the problem now is that his presence has caused serious problems in Real Madrid's entire midfield.
"Can a coaching change solve these problems?" Florentino asked in a low voice.
Butragueno was a little surprised.
This should be the first time that Florentino mentioned a coaching change.
Is this a disguised admission of being wrong?
"Ancelotti is currently idle at home, but to be honest, I don't know if he can control the dressing room well," Butragueno said.
If there were not so many contradictions and conflicts, Ancelotti would be a very ideal head coach.
But now, the factional conflicts in the Real Madrid locker room are becoming more and more acute. When Ancelotti comes here, can he ease these conflicts?
Florentino glanced at the vulture and understood.
In fact, from Butragueno to Valdano to Zidane, and even Real Madrid fans, they are all looking forward to Gao Shen.
But why did Gao Shen return to Real Madrid?
He has done such a good job at Manchester City that the tycoons in the Middle East respect him with all their heart, and his treatment is among the best in the world. He recently acquired Leeds United in the English Championship, making it clear that he wants to take root in the Premier League.
Florentino knows very well that with the arrival of Gao Shen, many things in Real Madrid will change.
"Let's wait a little longer. We must make a breakthrough in the Champions League this season no matter what. At least we must qualify in the group stage. Otherwise, if we fall into the third gear, we will be finished. Even these current players may even think about it by then.
Gotta go."
"Let's contact Ancelotti first. If the situation is not right, we will change the coach!"
Florentino said it to the end with a look of determination on his face.
Once the coach changes and Carlo Ancelotti comes, it will be impossible for Gao Shen to return to Real Madrid in a short period of time.
But Florentino also has his own concerns.
The current situation is that if the team loses in the group stage and the Champions League top 16 consecutively, will the stars stay in Real Madrid willingly?
For example, Ronaldo, how high does he expect of himself?
Would he be willing to stay in a team that can only play in the Champions League group stage and cannot beat Barcelona in the league?
So what else can he use to compete with Messi?
Adebayor, Higuain and Benzema, these three centers are already full of contradictions.
Mourinho reused Adebayor, Higuain and Benzema were dissatisfied.
Real Madrid now is like a powder keg full of dangers. No one knows when or what stimulus it will receive, and it will suddenly explode.
Therefore, what Florentino wants to do now is to calm the anger of all parties as soon as possible.
Results are the basis for a football team’s survival!
…
No one knew about the conversation that took place in the president's office at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid.
But at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, when the game entered the second half, especially from the 60th minute, everyone could clearly see that Real Madrid's performance had declined significantly.
This is indeed strange.
Because the current season has just begun, it is the moment when the players are in the best physical condition. Although they have experienced the national team for two consecutive weeks, and then a week of double matches, they will not decline significantly after only 60 minutes.
A more reasonable explanation is that Real Madrid's players are generally not excited enough, and the pressure exerted by Manchester City is too great.
Mourinho made a substitution and replaced the No. 10 attacking midfielder with Kaká.
He originally had expectations for the German international connection between the No. 10 attacking midfielder and Khedira, but the performance of the two players tonight was disappointing, and they were both lost at the Etihad Stadium.
Mourinho originally expected him to suppress Fernandinho, but in the end, Real Madrid's No. 10 simply couldn't do it.
After replacing Kaka, the Brazilian midfielder performed very actively.
In the 64th minute, Xabi Alonso made a diagonal pass to the feet of Di Maria on the right side of the frontcourt.
The Argentine stopped the ball to avoid Felipe, cut inside with the ball, and passed it to Kaká.
Kaka understood the situation and hit back in time, completing a two-on-one to help Di Maria cut inside.
The Argentine winger rushed to the center and tried to pass the ball diagonally to Ronaldo on the left rib. Unexpectedly, Kompany got ahead of Ronaldo and suddenly intercepted the ball.
After grabbing the ball, Kompany passed the ball to Zabaleta.
The Argentine defender took the ball forward from the inside and passed the ball to Yaya Toure near the midline. He sprinted forward decisively and quickly, trying to pass one.
Yaya Toure didn't realize it in time. As soon as he stopped the ball and took two steps forward, he saw Xavi Alonso approaching him and immediately took the ball to the right, while Robben stayed on the right sideline.
, ran back and raised his hand to receive the ball.
After Robben retreated, he immediately raised his hand towards Zabaleta in front and motioned for him to pull to the right.
This move disturbed Coentrao, who didn't know whether he should follow Robben or Zabaleta.
But at this moment, Robben suddenly caught the ball and cut inside, and quickly passed the ball over Coentrao and onto the head of Zabaleta behind him. The Argentine headed the ball and passed it over
Coming back, he happened to land on Robben's line.
There was an exclamation of surprise throughout the Etihad Stadium.
"Man City's beautiful combination on the right."
"The exquisite one-two between Robben and Zabaleta was very exciting."
Robben quickly moved forward, stopped Zabaleta's pass forward, and then quickly caught up with him.
Real Madrid's defense in the surrounding area actually showed a vacuum.
Robben dribbled the ball diagonally towards Real Madrid's penalty area.
At this time, both Carvalho and Pepe had returned to the front of the penalty area in time.
