Chapter 838 The Brazilian Genius with Broken Wings
"Hey, Mauricio."
In the hotel lobby, when Gao Shen saw Pochettino, he stretched out his hand from a distance.
"Hello, Gao, nice to see you!"
Pochettino walked forward quickly and hugged Gao Shen forcefully.
It's true that the two haven't seen each other for a while, especially now, Gao Shen is indeed busier than before.
His familiarity with Pochettino began in Coverciano, Italy. At that time, the Argentinian went to listen to his lectures, and Pochettino had not coached the Espanyol at that time.
Facts have proved that Pochettino later achieved great success in coaching the Spanish team.
In the first season, he took over the Espanyol during the winter break. In half a year, he brought the team from the 18th place in the relegation zone to the 10th place, becoming the most eye-catching young man in La Liga that season.
Young Marshal.
Especially one month after taking office, he led the team to defeat Guardiola's Barcelona 2-1 at Camp Nou.
This battle made Pochettino famous in the circle.
In the following two seasons, Espanyol ranked in the middle and upper reaches of La Liga and performed very well. However, with the loss of players and the lack of team signings, the Spanish team's recent performance has declined, but there is no risk of relegation.
Speaking of which, Pochettino's most classic transfer operation was Osvaldo. In one season, from buying for 4 million euros to selling for 15 million euros, the Spaniard made a lot of money.
But the team's performance was also greatly affected.
It can be said that among the advanced disciples, Pochettino is one of the best.
…
Accompanying Pochettino on this [pilgrimage] were his two assistant coaches.
Argentinian Miguel D'Agostino, who is also a professional player and serves as a central defender, is Pochettino's friend and right-hand man, good at defense and tactics; Spaniard Jesus Perez, he is one by one.
He only joined Pochettino's coaching staff in January of this year as a fitness coach.
Gao Shen was also very polite to these two people, because he knew that in the next few years, Pochettino's coaching performance that would amaze the entire Premier League and even the entire Europe was mostly due to his training.
Although Pochettino's training is unique in that he uses many unique training methods, it is his two right-hand assistants who achieve these, so no matter where Pochettino goes, he takes them with him.
Gao Shen met them in the hotel cafe, chatting about their current situation, and even jokingly asked for the truth about defeating Barcelona, but Pochettino certainly didn't believe it.
The way he defeated Barcelona back then was based on Gao Shen.
However, while joking, he did reveal a lot of little things about Barcelona.
After all, only those who have personally experienced many things can have the deepest feelings. Moreover, the Spaniard and Barcelona are mortal enemies in the same city, so they are the best informed.
When they came this time, in addition to visiting Gao Shen, they also had a small thing to do, which was to ask for game tickets.
"You don't know, except for some of the tickets for Manchester City, all the other tickets have been sold out long ago, and there is no place to buy them." Pochettino looked at Gao Shen with envy.
"Barcelona fans have 'true love' for you!"
Gao Shen laughed, this was a very happy thing.
In fact, there are many things like this and it is very common. Gao Shen often asked others to ask for game tickets and readily agreed immediately. Anyway, someone sent them to him as soon as he called.
While waiting for the tickets, Gao Shen asked him about someone.
Inter Milan has loaned out the young player from Espanyol, the Brazilian genius Coutinho who has broken his wings.
"You are really well-informed about this news. He just showed up and you paid attention immediately?" Pochettino was really surprised.
The whole world knows that Gao Shen has his own set of information channels, and he can always dig out some outstanding people without others knowing. In the past few years, he has done this kind of thing a lot, and he has also found a lot of real gold.
This is why there is a saying in European football: a sophisticated product must be a high-quality product.
To say that Coutinho is really unpopular at Inter Milan.
In other words, Inter Milan does not have the soil to cultivate young players.
At the age when he needed the game the most, he was only given five chances to play in the entire first half of the season. In 250 minutes, he contributed one goal and one assist.
After being loaned to Espanyol, Pochettino promoted him to the main team, but his performance in the first five rounds was mediocre, causing Espanyol to suffer a five-game winless streak.
"Two draws and three losses, including the 5-0 defeat to Real Madrid."
Speaking of this, Pochettino was also quite resentful, "You know, before this wave of defeats, we were ranked fifth in La Liga. The results were good, but we fell down all of a sudden."
Gao Shen couldn't help but laugh.
There was really no way around this. After selling Osvaldo and other players at a high price, the Spaniards were stingy and refused to invest. They only poached the 36-year-old veteran Pandiani on a free transfer.
In this way, Pochettino still managed to reach fifth place in the league in the first half of the season.
But everyone knows that such a ranking cannot last long.
So during the winter break, Pochettino introduced forward Kalu Uche on a free transfer and loaned Coutinho from Inter Milan.
After that, the Spaniard ushered in a period of trough, and at the same time began to re-polished the team's skills and tactics. This is what Pochettino said before, five games without a win, and the ranking dropped from fifth to eighth now.
Actually it's not that bad.
In the last four rounds, Coutinho has scored four goals and one assist, and his performance is very eye-catching. However, because the Spaniard has not received much attention, his performance has not spread much news.
But Gao Shen noticed.
…
"This kid has to see how to use it."
Pochettino immediately became energetic when he mentioned this young player.
"He is that kind of typical Brazilian player, but not very typical. He has excellent foot skills and rarely loses the ball. His body looks thin, but he has strength. He is not the brittle type. Do you understand what I mean?
?”
Gao Shen nodded, many Brazilian players did the same.
For example, Neymar looks thin, but he is actually very capable in confrontation.
If Neymar didn't have that confrontational ability, his evaluation would drop by two levels.
"He is excellent at passing threatening balls and shooting. He is willing to run and fight hard. He is also active in defense and is not slow. However, he lacks the impact forward. I feel that he is not suitable to be used as a hot spot, so I am
He was paired with Didak Villa on the left wing."
The Spanish left back has good speed and is very capable of attacking from behind.
"Another point is that he is seriously lacking in confidence now."
Gao Shen was very happy when he heard this, "Doesn't this give you room to show off?"
Pochettino and the two assistants beside him laughed.
Argentinians are really good at motivating people, or in other words, giving them chicken blood and chicken soup.
"The difference is that he is on loan. We can't buy a player of his level," Pochettino said with disappointment.
Osvaldo, the core player of the Spaniard, was sold for 15 million euros and then refused to invest any more.
How could they possibly buy Coutinho worth over 10,000,000 euros?
Based on the current level of the Spaniard, it is roughly equivalent to buying a player for three to four million euros, which is a lot of money.
This is limited by the team's finances and positioning, and the head coach is powerless.
"To be honest, I think he is quite interesting to Paulinho from Leeds United. Paulinho is good at breaking in and attacking with the ball, and his impact is very strong, but Coutinho is obviously not slow.
But he lacks impact, but he is good at passing the ball."
"If these two people partner in the midfield, plus your full-backs, I dare say that in the new season in the Premier League, let alone relegation, it is possible to reach the middle and upper reaches."
Pochettino said it with great confidence.
Being able to take the Spaniard to fifth place in the league, even though it was only for a period of time, still had a huge impact on him.
To put it bluntly, in a team like Espanyol, Pochettino is severely constrained.
He also wants to go to a broader stage to prove his strength.
Of course Gao Shen understood what he was thinking, and he also knew that Pochettino's idea coincided with his.
But he guessed one thing wrong. What Gao Shen sketched was not the Brazilian combination of Coutinho and Paulinho, but the left rib combination of Coutinho and Pogba, plus a very offensive Khur.
Zawa.
If this combination can really be arranged, Leeds United's left side will take off.
A very important reason why Gao Shen has this idea is that he may not be able to keep Adam Lallana.
Local players in the Premier League are very scarce, causing the value of household registration books to skyrocket.
Adam Lallana is a player hand-picked by senior players. He performed well at Manchester City before. After arriving at Leeds United, he became the core of the team. He is the assist leader in the English Championship and performed very well in the League Cup.
Such a local player has attracted the attention of many teams, and he will soon be 24 years old. If he wants to take a step forward in his career, there is no way to accompany Leeds United to slowly upgrade.
There is also Paulinho, who is about to be 24 years old and has also received favor and attention from many teams. It is not likely that this player will stay on the team.
In this case, according to Gao Shen's intention, sell Adam Lallana at a higher price as possible and introduce Coutinho. Not to mention changing the shotgun for a cannon, the strength will be stronger, but the cost is also high. At least it requires
Ten million euros.
As for the midfielder, if Paulinho is really sold, Pogba and Schneiderlin will be retained. Kondogbia has performed well and is both offensive and defensive. He can fill the vacancy left by Paulinho and maintain stability in the midfield.
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In this way, Leeds United's overall strength next season will be stronger than it is now.
Gao Shen also imagined that if Coutinho cannot be taken, Mane, Salah, Zaha and Bolasie can all play this position. But the problem is that with Pogba alone, Leeds United’s
There is a serious lack of creativity and passing ability in the midfield and frontcourt.
So, this money has to be spent!
The key depends on whether Inter Milan can sell it or not.
Gao Shen is very calculating, but as a professional head coach, he knows better than anyone that it is not easy to avoid relegation in the Premier League.
He was never vague about what money should be spent and where.
As for Pochettino, he is indeed very good, but for the time being, Gao Shen cannot live up to Sarri.
