Chapter 234 The local gangs are so rude!
After hearing what Zanetti said, Lin Feng really didn't know how to comfort him for a moment.
On the contrary, Zanetti saw that he was silent and comforted him:
"Haha, you are still young. If you didn't participate this time, just try your best next time. I have watched the broadcast of the Chinese team's games. You are a very strong team. I think you will definitely have a chance in the next World Cup. Come on!"
Zanetti is really dedicated to his duties as captain!
Even in this situation, he still wanted to take care of his teammates' emotions. He really made me cry!
Just when Lin Feng and Zanetti and other old players were chatting and reminiscing about the past, Mancini and the club's sports director came to the training ground with several new players!
"Okay, everyone, be quiet for a moment. I'll introduce you to some new teammates!"
Behind Mancini stand summer signings such as Vieira, Maicon and Grosso.
The three people had different reactions. Vieira was used to playing for top clubs, including AC Milan, Arsenal, Juventus, and including Inter Milan, this was already the fourth top club he had played for.
Multiple transfer experiences, more than ten years of experience in top clubs and his own strong strength have given him sufficient confidence.
When facing the Inter Milan team, he introduced himself confidently and was not at all stage frightened.
Compared with him, Maicon, who just came to Europe from the Brazilian league two years ago, and Grosso, who has been in low-level leagues for a long time and has no experience in top clubs, seem a little less confident.
But this doesn't seem to be a bad thing. Neither of them thinks they are big shots, so after joining the new team, they don't have any airs or psychological barriers. With the introduction of a good guy like Zanetti, they quickly became friends with their teammates.
Both of them have excitement on their faces. They are very curious about everything about the new team and are full of expectations for the future. They are ready to make a big splash in the new season.
On the contrary, Vieira, who regarded himself as a big-name star, put on airs and did not take the initiative to get close to his new teammates. He even gave a bad look to Materazzi, who induced Zidane to commit a foul in the World Cup final, which made Inter Milan's old players quite unhappy.
"What's wrong with the French international? What's wrong with the big-name star? This is Inter Milan, not the French national team or Arsenal. Who does this guy think he is?"
Materazzi was a man with a bad temper. He was very unhappy with the stinky face of his defeated opponent, so he rolled up his sleeves and prepared to talk reason with the other party.
"Forget it, forget it. Today is the first day of reporting. Don't make trouble and upset the coach and the boss. There is a long way to go and there will be plenty of time in the future!"
Teammates pulled Materazzi's arm and tried to persuade him.
Seeing Mancini and club president Facchetti looking over here, Materazzi gave up the idea of convincing them with reason.
"By the way, where's Zanetti? Why can't I see him?"
Lin Feng glanced around and found that several teammates were missing.
Martins was poached by Newcastle because of his outstanding performance last season and Mancini was unable to guarantee his starting position. He just joined the Magpies for 1600 million euros.
As for Zanetti, last season, he and Cruz were still looking forward to the club's contract renewal negotiations.
Later, Cruz successfully renewed his contract with Inter Milan, but he seemed to have never received the renewal from Inter Milan. Now even he has not been seen. Many people think that he may leave as a free agent.
"He, he went to Juventus"
"What? Went to Juventus? Didn't Juventus get relegated? Isn't this jumping into the fire pit?"
"Yes, with his ability, he can be a regular starter in any Serie A team as long as it is not a wealthy club. Why would he want to go to Juventus?"
"The Calciopoli scandal has not been completely resolved. Juventus has only been relegated so far, but if there are additional penalties in the future, things may recur. It would be a bit hard to join Juventus at this time!"
Zanetti still has the strength and is in his prime.
Last season, when Inter Milan was full of injuries, he had a brilliant performance and was recognized by his teammates.
To be honest, the departure of such a talented player is a loss for Inter Milan as a whole.
But the other party is unwilling to sit on the bench at Inter Milan, and Inter Milan is not active in renewing the contract, so there is no way he can leave.
"He said that in April, before the club renewed his contract, he had already agreed to a transfer with Juventus. Although Juventus was involved in the phone scandal, we advised him not to do that. But Zanetti took his word very seriously. He said he would join Juventus, even if they were relegated."
Materazzi spread his hands and said helplessly.
After listening to his description, everyone couldn't help but feel a little respect for Zanetti: He is a man of his word, a true hero!
When they thought of Zanetti joining Juventus, everyone couldn't help but look at Vieira twice.
Some people ran out desperately when the Juventus ship was sinking, while others jumped in without hesitation even though they knew that the Juventus ship was going to sink.
Vieira noticed everyone's gazes, and with his hot temper he did not give in at all and glared back at everyone.
The crowd did not deliberately lower their voices, so Vieira had already heard what they were discussing, and he naturally understood that everyone was looking at him with ill intent.
With his hot temper, if the other side didn't have too many people, he really wanted to "settle down" with the other side, just like he did to Van Nistelrooy in the player tunnel!
……
After all the players arrived, Inter Milan's pre-match training officially began.
Since the players have not played for a long time, many of them even have body shapes out of shape and their body fat percentage has soared due to improper diet.
Therefore, the first few days of training mainly focused on recovery training. After the players adapted to the intensity of the training, Mancini began to arrange physical training.
Inter Milan will fight on three fronts next season, with the league, Champions League and cup competitions all being top priorities, especially the Champions League.
After fulfilling Inter Milan fans' dream of winning the league title, Inter Milan's next goal is to win the Champions League and recreate the glory of the Inter Milan era.
This is not an easy thing to do, so Moratti gave Mancini two years of buffer time.
If Mancini still cannot help the team win the Champions League within two years, then Mancini will probably lose his position as coach.
Moratti is known for his impatience and quick temper. Although the other party said to give him two years, Mancini felt that if the team did not make a breakthrough in the Champions League next season, Moratti might forget his promise in anger and fire him directly.
Therefore, Inter Milan’s focus in the new season will be on the Champions League.
Coincidentally, Inter Milan's two direct league competitors, Juventus and AC Milan, both suffered major blows due to the Calciopoli scandal.
Without the threat from these two teams, it will be basically no difficulty for Inter Milan to defend their Serie A title.
But Mancini is very troubled about how to lead the team to win the Champions League.
First, we have no experience, and second, we are unsure whether the team’s current lineup is strong enough to compete for the championship.
Furthermore, the Champions League is full of randomness, especially in the second half of the league, when a large number of injuries and suspensions come and go. If the team is unlucky and several main players or even core players are injured, Inter Milan will be in great danger. Thinking of this, Mancini sighed.
Well, let's take it one step at a time!
……
After the team trained for almost ten days, Inter Milan left Italy and rushed to France and the United Kingdom to start the first phase of warm-up matches.
The opponent in the first warm-up match is Monaco of Ligue 1. Monaco was once a strong team in Ligue 1. Its performance has declined in recent years, but it should not be underestimated.
Inter Milan chose them for the first warm-up match, obviously to let the team find their feeling through the game and build up confidence and morale by defeating such a medium-strength team.
However, the way the game went made Mancini look gloomy. In the first half, Inter Milan, with all its main players on the field, was defeated by Monaco through a counterattack and scored a goal.
If he was just behind in the score, he wouldn't be so angry.
The key is that the team's cooperation on the field was very poor, especially Vieira, who could never integrate into Inter Milan's system. Whether in offense or defense, he was isolated and like an outsider.
So during the half-time break, Mancini criticized Vieira without any hesitation.
Vieira feels so miserable!
These guys are definitely targeting me on purpose!
It was obvious that I ran into an open space and there would be a great opportunity for me to have the ball passed to me, but they just couldn't see it, and even if they saw it, they deliberately didn't pass it.
If that were all, it would be fine. After all, Vieira is a defensive midfielder. As long as he does his job well in defense, he will still be recognized by the coach.
But every time the opponent attacked and he went to defend, his teammates on both wingers either attacked too aggressively and had no time to retreat, or reacted too slowly and did not provide him with timely support after he rushed forward, resulting in frequent gaps behind him. The opponent's counterattack goal was scored by taking advantage of the opportunity behind him!
Although Vieira is very strong, football is a team sport after all. When the other ten players on the field do not cooperate with him or even isolate him, it is useless even if he is the king of football.
The isolation of Vieira was jointly carried out by the Italian gang and the South American gang within Inter Milan. Vieira really has some ability to offend most of his teammates at the same time!
Although Mancini was scolding Vieira, he actually knew clearly what was going on.
Scolding Vieira is actually giving these troublemakers a little sweetness, so that they will stop after tasting the sweetness.
This move did have a certain effect, and in the second half, teammates did not deliberately target Vieira.
But if the same opportunity is presented to them, the players will definitely choose their trusted old teammates, which results in Vieira having few opportunities to get the ball.
Mancini couldn't stand it anymore and had to replace him after almost twenty minutes of the second half.
New signing Maicon came on and captain Zanetti moved forward to replace Vieira.
As a result, this substitution achieved an unexpected effect. The new player Maicon was very active, frequently dribbling the ball into the opponent's half and using his excellent crossing ability to create opportunities for his teammates in the penalty area many times.
In the 72nd minute of the second half, it was with his assist that Cruz scored with a header in the penalty area, helping the team equalize the score.
Five minutes later, it was Maicon who committed a foul when he broke through on the right side of the penalty area, allowing Inter Milan to win a free kick in the frontcourt.
Lin Feng chose to shoot directly and scored the ball into the goal with a graceful arc, helping Inter Milan to reverse the score to 2:1.
Although Monaco launched a counterattack afterwards, they failed to break through Inter Milan's defense.
Zanetti performed well in the defensive midfielder position, freezing the opponent's most active wingers many times and making Monaco's attacks futile time and time again.
The score remained at 2:1 until the end of the game, and Inter Milan got off to a good start as they wished thanks to a reversal in the second half.
Although the game was won, Mancini couldn't be happy.
Both Maicon and Grosso performed well in this game, especially Maicon. His performance was eye-catching, and even made Mancini think of promoting him to be the team's main right-back.
But Vieira, the most valuable player, was unable to integrate into the team, which gave him a headache.
To be honest, Vieira is more important than both Maicon and Grosso.
With a strong striker and a talented attacking midfielder in the team, whoever controls the midfield controls the world!
Vieira is the umbrella responsible for supporting the hardness of Inter Milan's midfield.
But the problem is that the umbrella cannot be opened now, and the team members are collectively excluding him!
If this problem cannot be solved, Vieira will have to sit on the bench in the new season!
Letting such a great player waste his time on the bench is simply a crime!
Vieira himself was also very anxious. During the usual team training matches, it was okay for his teammates to not get along with him, but he didn't care much.
But I didn't expect that in an occasion like a warm-up match before the game, these guys still ignored the overall situation and were still targeting me.
If they continue like this in subsequent official matches, Vieira's season may be ruined.
Vieira is already 30 years old this year and the peak of his career is only a few years away.
If he really has to waste a year on Inter Milan's bench, it would be more painful than killing him!
Thinking of this, Vieira found his agent, hoping he could give him some advice.
If it doesn't work, try to see if you can leave Inter Milan.
"That's probably difficult. According to FIFA regulations, a player can only be registered with two teams in a transfer window. You have already registered with Juventus and Inter Milan, so there is no way to continue the transfer."
“However, if the club is willing to let you go, they can arrange for you to be loaned out, but this will cause great losses to the team. After all, they have offered you a high salary and a transfer fee of 950 million. The team you are loaned out to may not be willing to bear these expenses, and you have never contributed to Inter Milan and have no friendship with the team. Therefore, Inter Milan is obviously unlikely to take the initiative to bear these losses unless you pay out of your own pocket to make up for these deficits.”
When Vieira heard the previous words, his eyes lit up and he felt that there was finally a glimmer of hope.
But when he heard the following words, his eyes dimmed again.
The annual salary offered by Inter Milan is really not low. 500 million euros per year is nearly 4% higher than his salary at Juventus, not to mention compared with Arsenal!
No wonder Inter Milan didn't have many honors in the past few years, but there were still so many big-name stars vying to join.
There is no way, they just gave too much!
Vieira actually didn't make much money in his early years. The four-year contract he signed with Inter Milan with a total value of 2500 million euros, which also comes with a series of bonuses, is almost more than the salary he received in the previous ten years!
He really couldn't bear to give up such a lucrative contract!
Since you are reluctant to spend the money, you can only swallow your pride and lower your head.
(End of this chapter)
