When everyone is training hard, the nine days go by very quickly.
In the blink of an eye, nine days passed.
Chang Sheng asked all players to do a body scan before deciding who would make the roster.
The results showed that three people failed to meet the standard.
Among these three people there is also a main player, Benzema.
Chang Sheng stood in front of Benzema with an apologetic look on his face.
Benzema also knew what was waiting for him, and he lowered his head.
"It's really just that close, Karim." Chang Sheng said to him. "But I'm sorry, this is a rule, and everyone must abide by it. So, you go to the reserve team for a week first. When,
If your body meets the requirements of the first team, I will let you come back."
Benzema didn't say anything. He already knew the coach's style. He was very concerned about discipline.
Originally, he thought that by doing this for a few days, he would be able to reduce his fat content to a standard level and increase his explosive power.
Who would have thought that this was not the case.
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In this way, Karim went to the reserve team to report. In the first game of the new year, Lazio faced Genoa at home, the player who appeared in the starting right wing position was not Benzema, but Cazorla.
Benzema didn't even make the squad. He watched the game from the stands.
Lazio defeated Genoa 2:1 at home. Although Cazorla did not score a goal, he had an assist and was very active.
Benzema watched the performance of his teammates in the stands. He knew that even if he returned to the first team, it did not mean that he could return to the main lineup immediately. If he wanted to get the main lineup, he had to work harder. Then he
The main position was snatched from Cazorla's hands...
The media did not raise any questions about why Benzema did not play in the game, because Chang Sheng often rotates, and it is normal for which player to play and which player does not play. There is nothing surprising. If you must ask, Chang Sheng will win eight out of ten times
Jiudu replied: "Because I am on rotation."
What's the point of such a question?
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A week later, Benzema and the other two players returned to the first team. After inspection, their bodies were all up to standard.
Chang Sheng felt that this problem was solved.
The team will start the second half of the season with high morale.
The holiday situation was just an episode.
Unexpectedly, he later discovered that everything actually started from that holiday.
Three days later in the Italian Cup, Lazio defeated Reggina 3-0 at home and advanced to the quarterfinals.
Lazio, which has won seven consecutive games in all competitions, looks to be in good shape.
No one can stop them.
Immediately after the result, Lazio suffered their first defeat in the league.
In the nineteenth round, they lost to Naples 1:3 away from home!
Cavani started the game in this game. However, he played as a right midfielder and his performance was mediocre.
His contribution to Naples' victory was very small.
Even the commentator didn't expect Lazio's first league defeat to come just like this.
Before the game, everyone thought that although Lazio was playing away from home, it would not be a big problem against newly promoted Napoli.
Who would have thought that I would lose...
This failure may be considered accidental.
But then "Gazzetta dello Sport" revealed the news that Nocerino was dissatisfied with playing as a substitute and hoped to get more opportunities to play.
The reporter who reported this article is still the same Breno Pacheco who previously reported on Falcao's possible transfer.
The article said that the reporter interviewed Nocerino, who was not very satisfied with his current situation. Lazio's midfielder includes Modric, Khedira, Inler, Ledesma, Cazorla, Nocerino.
Cerino. Among them, Cazorla often plays a cameo between the forward and the midfielder, so in fact the only players who are really fixed in the midfield are Modric, Khedira, Inler, Ledesma and Noceri.
Five people.
In every game, Lazio uses three people in the midfield.
Three of the five players will start and two will be on the bench. Logically speaking, this should be a very reasonable configuration.
In addition, Chang Sheng plays in rotation. Each player will have many opportunities to play.
So Nocerino actually has a lot of opportunities to play.
Last season, including starting and substitute appearances, he had 21 appearances in the league.
As a non-main player, there are not many opportunities to play like this.
But Nocerino seems unwilling to continue to be a rotation player. He hopes to get more playing opportunities.
"...I am almost twenty-three years old, and I think I am ready to accept the test of higher-intensity competition..."
Through the media, Nocerino made such a request to Chang Sheng.
In fact, it is very common for teams to be dissatisfied with their current situation and make demands to the head coach.
But what Nocerino did made Chang Sheng very unhappy.
Because he did not come directly to him, but spread the word through the media!
What does this mean? This is because he hopes to let the media exert influence on him... so as to force him to agree to his request.
His calculation was quite good, but at the same time, he also exposed the inside of the team's locker room, providing excellent hype material for reporters who were afraid of chaos in the world.
Now Lazio's performance is so good that it has become the target of public criticism. The media must really want to find some trouble with Lazio... However, Chang Sheng is very strict about the management of the locker room. He does not allow players to talk about the internal affairs of the locker room during interviews.
matter.
Therefore, the media has never been able to find suitable materials and excuses.
As a result, Nocerino's complaint has given the media such an opportunity!
Sure enough, there was a reporter's comment column below the "Gazzetta dello Sport" report, which talked about the internal crisis in Lazio.
"In the eyes of most of us, Lazio is a united team. They are closely united around the coaching staff with Chang as the core, and work hard towards a common goal. But Nocerino's words made people
We realized that maybe that wasn't the case..."
"When Chang was in Spain, the Spanish media gave him a nickname. This nickname was not very nice. But Chang himself was very proud of himself. 'Tyrant', that's what people in Spain called him. This nickname is actually very appropriate, because
The way Chang controls the locker room is really no different from a 'tyrant'. He exercises high-pressure rule internally, and anyone who dares to challenge his authority will be banished to the sidelines. Let's think about Valencia's Zahovic at the time.
, his experience can be said to be very typical... But as the saying goes, where there is oppression, there is resistance. So there are actually undercurrents in Lazio's locker room... I will say the simplest thing, who is willing to keep taking it?
What about an annual salary of no more than two million euros?”
The author of this reporter's opinion column is Breno Pacheco.
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After training resumed on Monday, Chang Sheng found Nocerino.
"What do you think, Antonio? Can you tell me what you thought when you were interviewed by this man?"
Chang Sheng asked Nocerino in a bad tone.
Nocerino defended with a look of panic: "The reporter misinterpreted my words... I never said that!"
Chang Sheng crossed his chest with his hands, leaned on the back of the chair, and looked at Nocerino: "Then what did you say?"
"Uh... I just... uh..." Nocerino couldn't say it.
"You hope to get more playing opportunities? Antonio? Congratulations now. You will not get more playing opportunities." Chang Sheng didn't have the patience to wait for him to say, he could guess it, so he said to Nocerino
Said he made the final judgment.
Nocerino raised his head and looked at Chang Sheng with some horror.
"I can't let my players form the impression that as long as I complain in front of the media. If I make a fuss, I can get what I want, whether it's playing opportunities or wages. Even if I originally planned to give you more
Those who had many opportunities to play are gone now."
Chang Sheng spread his hands.
"I'm sorry, Antonio. But this is the discipline of the team and everyone must abide by it. I remember when you first joined the team, someone should have told you. Things in the locker room are not allowed to be disclosed to the media..."
Nocerino was a little anxious: "But this is not a matter within the locker room, this is my matter..."
"You can come to me to discuss your request. I have never refused to talk to any player alone. The door of my office is open to you at any time. Why don't you come to me and talk to the media?"
Hearing this, Nocerino was a little frustrated. He lowered his head again and said feebly: "We just talked about it in passing..."
"You should know that reporters will set up many traps when interviewing you, just waiting for you to step on them. You are not a kid who just debuted, Antonio. You have to be responsible for what you do."
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In this way, no matter what Nocerino thinks in his heart, he must accept the punishment given by Chang Sheng and be banned from the team for three games. Then we will see the consequences.
But the Nocerino incident was just the introduction.
Chang Sheng keenly discovered some problems from this incident.
The first is the media reporters making trouble. "Gazzetta dello Sport" seems to be eyeing its own locker room this time.
Secondly, there is an undercurrent surging within the team.
They are at the top of the league, and even if they lose a game, they are still four points ahead of second place Inter Milan.
In the Champions League, they easily qualified first in the group stage.
The team's performance has exceeded everyone's expectations. This is only their third season and the second season after a major overhaul.
To be able to perform like this, not even the Lazio players expected.
Happiness seems to come too suddenly.
When victory has become commonplace and becomes a habit, how many people will still care?
At this time, players are not thinking more about winning on the court. After becoming famous, they should think about their income.
This is human nature.
But this will affect the team's combat effectiveness. When everyone's minds are not on the game, how can the game be played?
Chang Sheng connected Nocerino's incident with the previous team's performance during the holidays and discovered the clues.
Something seems to be changing within this team.
And this kind of change is something Chang Sheng doesn't want to see.
To put it bluntly, this team is losing its motivation to fight and move forward little by little.
