What Dick didn't expect was that this conversation with Hill would directly prompt an Atletico Madrid legend to leave sadly at the end of the season - after his conversation with Hill, at the end of the season, the old Hill once talked to Baseball
Kiko had a secret meeting. After that meeting, Kiko announced his departure from Atletico Madrid, and instead joined Cordoba, the C-level team where he debuted, on a free transfer. Two years later, Kiko quietly disappeared.
Retired, because even in the Spanish Third Division, his performance was not good - since he was seriously injured in the game against Barcelona at the end of 1998 and missed a year, Kiko is indeed no longer the one who led the Spanish Olympic team to win the 1992
Kiko, the Olympic champion, is no longer the Kiko who led Atletico Madrid to win the double championship. His body has begun to completely decline, and he has completely lost his previous grace.
From this perspective, when Atletico Madrid succeeded in relegation, they chose to leave peacefully. They were relegated with Atletico Madrid in history but did not play any role in the second division. As a result, Atletico Madrid failed to upgrade quickly. As a result, Atletico Madrid fans scolded them.
The result of leaving sadly is much better than Kiko leaving in this way. At least for a long time, Atletico Madrid fans will miss those wonderful days he brought.
Sometimes when Dick thinks back, he can't help but sigh - in fact, based on his original intention, he was unwilling to treat such a banner player. However, he had to face too many problems when he joined Atletico Madrid.
, all his energy was used to quickly control the team and continuously win in the next games to complete the great cause of relegation. He had no time to find out the reasons for Kiko's decline and find ways to improve his performance.
His performance could be better and he could have some effect... If he had taken over half a year earlier, when the team's situation had not deteriorated so much, he might have helped Kiko recover to a certain level. However, there are only six rounds left in the league.
He hurriedly took over, and the only thing he could do was to use Kiko to establish his authority.
Establishing authority by taking down Kiko is something that Dick has carefully considered. First, the rock of Kiko is big enough. If you move Kiko, you can express to all the players that I dare to touch even Kiko, and no one else can.
Even if he wants to be disobedient, I can still deal with him! With Hill's support behind him, he can achieve the miracle of being able to command the entire team in a day or two. Secondly, Kiko's strength has indeed declined a lot.
He has little effect on the team, and taking him will not damage Atletico Madrid's already weak strength. The last point is more important - because he knows what kind of person Kiko is, and this person is very important to Atletico Madrid.
There is no doubt about his love for him, and he has never been a ball-dominant figure. He did not cause trouble in the locker room when he was removed from the main position. He even maintained his position when the team was able to win.
silence.
Of course, this approach was a bit sorry for Kiko, but in that case, Dick had no choice but to do this. This was the only way that allowed him to take care of the entire team in just over a month.
So Dick actually felt a little guilty about Kiko, so that later in 2021, Atletico Madrid held a party to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its official establishment (although they were founded in 1903, it was not until 1921 that Bilbao
When Dick, who had already left Atletico Madrid, met Kiko, who had retired for a long time, at a party, Dick, who claims to never admit his mistakes, expressed his apology to Kiko in front of countless reporters.
Kiko laughed and didn't show any concern - he had already figured it out during those two bad seasons in the Spanish Third Division. At that time, he was indeed no longer able to serve as Atletico Madrid's main force!
Of course, this is a story for another day.
After chatting with Old Hill, Dick went to prepare for the next round of the league - in this round, Atletico Madrid will challenge Barcelona away from home, and then they will stay in Barcelona for a while, because midweek
It will be an away game against Barcelona again, which is the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
Playing against Barcelona three times in a row made Dick feel very happy - being able to continuously mess with Barcelona at the critical moment when Barcelona was trying to win the Triple Crown, this was considered to be that he had his destiny in his own hands. If he couldn't beat them, he would bring them down.
They, let them not win a championship!
And Dick also has a reason to fight hard in this game. In any case, he must get at least one point when facing Barcelona. In this round, Real Betis is an away challenge against Mallorca, which has successfully avoided relegation in advance.
I wonder if this island team will slack off at this time. Numancia is also playing against Racing Santander, which has successfully relegated in advance. Although it is unlikely that La Liga will have the habit of giving away favors after a team successfully relegates.
——Serie A teams have this habit more often, and there are also cases where they send points to Serie B, such as Bologna after one or two seasons. However, Atletico Madrid is also a strong team. Seeing a strong team
Being unlucky is something that all middle and lower-tier teams love to see and enjoy. Previously, when Malaga had no danger of being relegated, they still chose to fight Atletico Madrid. It must be said that it was because of this mentality.
So in this game, Atletico Madrid must get at least one point. In this case, even if Numancia wins Racing Santander away and is four points ahead of Atletico Madrid, it will still have to catch up in the last three rounds. If it is five points behind, then
It’s very, very difficult…
This game is also a hurdle for Atletico Madrid. After passing Barcelona, Atletico Madrid's next three opponents will not have any top teams. As long as they are directed well, it is still possible to win.
When Dick led Atletico Madrid to Barcelona, they were not welcomed by the entire Barcelona.
Barcelona fans naturally hate Atletico Madrid, but they hate Dick more. Who made him openly declare that Barcelona would not win a championship this season when he was coaching La Liga? You must know that Dick was
The team coached by Chris has nothing to do with Barcelona. He seems to hate Barcelona so much. Barcelona fans will naturally hate him. What's more, after winning Barcelona in the last round, he still seemed so graceless. In addition, Catalonia
The TV and media have been criticizing Dick. It would be strange if Barcelona fans still treat Dick like a passerby...
Another small group of non-Barcelona fans in the Barcelona area, that is, the Spanish fans, do not have a good impression of Atletico Madrid. They played well away from home in the Copa del Rey semi-finals and are very likely to enter the Copa del Rey final. Of course, they are not interested in Atletico Madrid.
I don't like a team that may be their rival in the final - besides, the Spaniard is one of Real Madrid's die-hard allies, and Atletico Madrid is Real Madrid's rival in the same city, and the relationship between them is not very good...
When they came to Barcelona, Atletico Madrid came to a place where everyone was hostile to them. Although Atletico Madrid players were experienced in many battles, they were also a little worried about this.
Faced with this hostile atmosphere, Dick didn't seem to care at all. He just wandered around the hotel casually every day. Seeing him showing no seriousness at all, Atletico Madrid players felt calmer.
- At least the good performance in the last few games is all because of this head coach. Since he doesn't seem to care at all, what do we care? We all followed his instructions. It's no wonder that we were relegated in the end.
Let's go up...
Although Dick's careless demeanor made Marriner, who had always been rigid, a little uncomfortable with it, he had to admit that Dick's lackadaisical attitude did a good job of resolving the nervousness of the Atletico Madrid players...
"What's there to be afraid of, guys? No matter how much their fans hate us, they can't rush out from the stands and beat us up. The most they can do is beat us when we celebrate at Camp Nou."
The sprinklers in the stadium are just turned on to shower us... Don't forget, what is the purpose of our coming here - at least one point, strive for three points, and make them depressed to death! How did they lose to us in the last game? It's because
Our defense and counterattack! Let’s defend a little better in this game and let them rush to attack but never get through our door. Then our goal will be accomplished! Barcelona’s biggest focus is on the Champions League
, as long as we act like we are going to fight them until the end, they will be the ones who are afraid, do you understand?"
Before the game started, after arriving in the Camp Nou locker room, Dick said this to the players. This tactic was originally the tactic he had arranged for the players in the past few days, so
The players also know what to do in this game.
From the midfield to the penalty area, every place has to compete with Barcelona until they can't stand it anymore. Atletico Madrid can pour all their energy into every game, but can Barcelona? Now Atletico Madrid is barefoot.
Those who are not afraid of wearing shoes, even if they lose, if they can drag you to exhaustion, that is victory!
As long as you show such momentum, your attention will be more on Barcelona in the Champions League, and you will be beating the drum in your heart, right?
After understanding this, Atletico Madrid's players began to relax a little, and then they saw their head coach starting to wander around the Camp Nou locker room like a country bumpkin.
"Well, Barcelona is so rich. I thought the faucets in their locker room were all made of gold... It turns out it's about the same as Calderon's. It doesn't seem to be as good as Calderon's locker room."
Dick's tone with a hint of disappointment made the players laugh. They had all been to the Camp Nou locker room, but this was really the first time for Dick to come - even though Camp Nou is well-known,
The Calderon Stadium is not worse than them at all. The Calderon Stadium was the first football stadium in Spain with a capacity of 60,000 people. Later, it was renovated and the capacity was reduced to the current 57,500 people. Even in this
When UEFA began to evaluate five-star stadiums a few years later, the Calderon Stadium was also the first stadium in Spain to be rated as a five-star stadium, before Camp Nou and the Bernabeu were rated as five-star stadiums.
!
In addition, there will definitely be a gap in facilities between the home team locker room and the visiting team locker room, so Dick's performance is nothing more than telling all Atletico Madrid players, what do you have to worry about? We are the same as Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The performance of top teams in the past two years is only a little bit worse at most. Psychologically, we have no disadvantages at all!
I have to say that this kind of performance is still very useful, especially when facing a strong enemy like Barcelona. Dick has always been improving the team's morale and increasing their self-confidence, so that they can have more success.
Much to rely on!
"Let's go and let Barcelona know that our performance in the last game was not an accident!" Dick waved his hand and said loudly.
