Chapter 92: First Encounter at the Bar (Transition Chapter)
"One game was brought back to square one, what happened to Inter Milan?"
"The magic of the 2000 million newcomer is gone, Inter Milan's first defeat of the season"
"Adriano was sleepwalking throughout the game. He doesn't deserve to be the king of Inter Milan!"
"Mancini should be held responsible for this disastrous defeat!"
As expected, Inter Milan was heavily criticized by major media after its unexpected loss to Palermo.
That's how the media is. They can praise you to the skies one day and devalue you to nothing the next day.
"Gazzetta dello Sport": Since taking office, Mancini has begun to pursue the so-called "beautiful football".
But judging from Inter Milan's poor performance in this game, his beautiful football does not seem beautiful at all.
But even so, Inter Milan still had some highlights in this game. Lin Feng's goal proved that his performance in the previous game was not a flash in the pan. These may give the Nerazzurri some psychological comfort.
Cruz's outstanding performance proved that Inter Milan is not short of strong players on the bench. The key is how to use them correctly.
This may be the problem that Mancini must solve next.
"Tuttosport": If it weren't for Cesar's save and the help of the goal post, Inter Milan might have suffered a devastating defeat.
Although Inter Milan did not lose too badly in the second half thanks to goals from Lin Feng and Cruz.
But for those who have watched the entire game, it would be difficult to maintain confidence in this Inter Milan.
This season, Inter Milan may still be the runner-up for the championship as before. With their current strength, it will be very difficult to win the championship.
As the mouthpiece of Juventus, it is normal for Turin Sports Daily to be pessimistic about Inter Milan.
But the Gazzetta dello Sport, which has a good relationship with Inter Milan, also came out to criticize them, which shows that the problem objectively exists.
Inter Milan did lose miserably this time, although the last two goals from Lin Feng and Cruz saved Inter Milan's reputation to a certain extent.
But it is an undeniable fact that we were beaten by our opponents in the first half.
Although there are objective factors such as FIFA virus and poor player condition.
But Inter Milan's paper strength is stronger than Palermo after all. Both the players and the coach are responsible for the terrible performance.
With the Champions League group stage about to begin, if Inter Milan cannot adjust its form as soon as possible, I am afraid that even its results in the Champions League will be affected.
In this round of matches, apart from Inter Milan, Juventus and AC Milan both achieved big victories and surpassed Inter Milan in the standings.
Inter Milan's ranking then dropped to eighth place. After only the second round of the league, they were almost left behind by the championship group.
The team's loss and outside criticism made the atmosphere within Inter Milan somewhat heavy.
The team members became quieter and joked with each other less frequently.
Lin Feng was not affected too much and continued to train as usual.
However, after the team training ended, he stayed longer to practice.
"Lin, take a break, you don't have to work so hard!"
At some point, coach Mancini appeared on the training ground.
Lin Feng stopped and looked back at Mancini.
This young coach, who usually pays great attention to his personal image and always appears in a suit and tie, looks a little sloppy and shabby at this time.
His suit was not straight at all, his tie was askew, and his eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn't slept in days.
"Coach, what are you doing?"
Lin Feng asked in surprise.
Mancini looks more like a homeless person outside, not like the head coach of Inter Milan at all.
“Haha, I researched some new things!”
Mancini waved his hand nonchalantly: "Let's go out for a drink. Don't train so late!"
Lin Feng spread his hands: "Coach, you forgot, I am under 18 years old!"
Mancini slapped his head, he really forgot about this.
The EU has age restrictions for drinking, and minors under the age of eighteen are not allowed to drink.
It was all because Lin Feng acted too maturely, not like a 17-year-old at all, which made him subconsciously ignore Lin Feng's age.
Compared with Lin Feng, Mancini even feels that the 23-year-old Adriano is more like a minor.
"Then don't drink. I'll give you a drink!"
Seeing Mancini was so persistent, Lin Feng did not refuse.
At the same time, he also developed some interest in the bars in Milan.
I don’t know what’s so good about these places. Why can they attract so many South American stars like Adriano and Ronaldinho?
"Give me a blue plain and give him any drink."
After saying that, he took out 100 euros from his pocket and threw it on the table.
The bar owner walked over and took a look at the money on the table, then looked up at Mancini and Lin Feng.
He said to Mancini in a cold manner: "His drink is free, your blue plainclothes is 200 euros!"
Lin Feng looked at the boss in surprise. He didn't expect that the other party would give him a free meal.
Mancini, who was standing beside him, stood up angrily after hearing what his boss said:
"Although I don't come to the bar often, it doesn't mean I don't know the market price. 200 euros, why don't you go and grab it?"
The boss sneered and said, "Congratulations, you got it right, I am indeed robbing!"
No matter how slow Mancini was, he knew that the other party was deliberately targeting him, which made him even angrier.
"Do you know who I am?"
The boss nodded: "Of course I know, you are Mancini, the idiot who just led Inter Milan to a loss!"
Mancini was immediately deflated and asked tentatively: "Are you an Inter Milan fan?"
The boss pointed to the wall beside him and said, "Didn't you see the jersey I hung on the wall?"
Lin Feng and Mancini turned their heads to look at the wall, only to see a blue and black jersey hanging on the wall.
The number on the jersey is 10, but it has Ronaldo's name printed on it, and there is a line of words below. Lin Feng has good eyesight and sees that it seems to be a signature.
Since the owner chose to put the jersey here for public display, it goes without saying that the signature is definitely Ronaldo's.
Whenever we mention Ronaldo, we can only think of him as the omnipotent alien.
But Lin Feng remembered that Ronaldo’s jersey number seemed to be 9, but why was this jersey number 10?
"When Ronaldo first joined, the No. 9 jersey was worn by Zamorano, so he could only wear the No. 10 jersey first. After Zamorano gave up the No. 9 jersey, he changed to the No. 9 jersey."
As if seeing Lin Feng's confusion, Mancini explained.
Lin Feng remembered that Ronaldo joined Inter Milan in 97. After Roberto Baggio joined Inter Milan in 98, he wore the No. 10 jersey which symbolized the core of the midfield.
In other words, Ronaldinho only changed into Inter Milan's No. 98 jersey in 9.
From this, it can be inferred that the bar owner must have gotten this jersey in the 97-98 season.
Even if we count from this year, it has been seven or eight years. The person in front of me should be a die-hard Inter Milan fan.
From the attitude of this fan, it can be seen that he does not like Mancini and even hates him very much.
The reason why the other side hates Mancini is very simple. Mancini is not a player from Inter Milan and does not have any Inter Milan elements. In addition, his qualifications are very shallow and far inferior to those famous coaches of Inter Milan in the past.
What is even more unbearable for fans is that his coaching ability is far inferior to Capello of Juventus and Ancelotti of AC Milan.
Ancelotti led AC Milan to win the Champions League trophy in his second season as coach, but you didn't even understand the tactical concepts in your second season.
So many Inter Milan fans still don’t understand why they should entrust Inter Milan’s revival to Mancini?
Is Mancini better than his predecessors Cooper and Lippi in any way?
No!
The thing that Inter Milan fans criticize him for the most is that he lacks dominance and always likes to put himself on the side of the weaker side.
This weak mentality always makes him feel a little short of victory when facing strong teams.
Last season, Inter Milan almost never won against the top six teams in the league.
18 draws in one season surprised the fans.
Inter Milan obviously has one of the most luxurious forward lines in Serie A, but they are always tied by their opponents.
This made Inter Milan fans very disappointed in Mancini. They felt that he clearly lacked the temperament to command major games. He made stupid moves in every crucial game and could never become a famous coach.
In the past ten years, Inter Milan has replaced 14 head coaches in total, and the compensation paid for firing head coaches alone has reached tens of millions of euros.
Many fans thought that Mancini would be the 15th unlucky guy, but unexpectedly, this guy was lucky enough to win the Italian Cup last season.
At the beginning of the new season, Mancini led his team to defeat Juventus and won the Super Cup, which changed the fans' impression of him.
The big home win over the newly promoted team in the first round of the league pushed this optimistic mood to a climax.
But Inter Milan's defeat to Palermo in the second round of the league woke up all Inter Milan fans.
Mancini is still Mancini, nothing has changed.
If Inter Milan wants to win the championship, they must fire him and replace him with a suitable coach.
Faced with the fans' questions, Mancini blushed:
"I have found the most suitable tactics for Inter Milan. Inter Milan will definitely win the championship this year!"
The boss was unmoved. "Haha, I've heard this more than a dozen times. Almost every coach who comes to Inter Milan will shout out the slogan of helping Inter Milan win the championship, but no one has ever fulfilled their promise."
Mancini's stubbornness came up and he asked back:
"What would you do if I did it?"
The bar owner sneered and said, "If you can do this, my bar will be free to you forever. I won't charge you a penny!"
"Okay, this is what you said!"
Mancini accepted the bet without hesitation!
He is not even trying to save face, especially since he has been enduring this for a long time.
Since he came to Inter Milan, the outside world has been questioning his ability and believing that he will be fired by Moratti sooner or later.
This aroused Mancini's fighting spirit: No one is optimistic about me, but I want to prove my strength!
Thinking of this, Mancini didn't even bother to drink.
Just turned around and left the bar!
Before he left, he even forgot to say hello to Lin Feng and just left like that...
Uh……
The noisy music, the flickering lights and the curious looks from the people around him made Lin Feng feel a little uncomfortable.
The bar owner glanced at him and poured him a glass of juice.
"First time in a bar?"
Lin Feng nodded. It was really his first time!
"Bars have always been like this, you just get used to it."
Although the boss's tone was still cold, Lin Feng did not hear much hostility in it. Instead, he felt a hint of concern from the other party.
"You played well in these two games, keep it up!"
After handing the juice to Lin Feng, the boss said something casually and went about his own business.
Lin Feng picked up the juice and hesitated whether to leave now.
Just then, a woman sat down in the empty seat next to him.
"Can you buy me a drink?"
Lin Feng glanced at the other person. She had a 7-point figure and an 8-point appearance. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, and a curvy figure, which suited his aesthetic taste.
But he didn't like the other person's heavy makeup, so he didn't say anything, but just pointed at the blue plain drink on the bar, indicating that the other person could do whatever he wanted.
This wine was ordered by Mancini. Lin Feng is not old enough to drink, and he doesn't like drinking, so this glass of wine will most likely be wasted. Since the other party wants to drink, then leave it to her.
"Thank you!"
The girl thanked him, picked up the glass skillfully, brought it to her lips, and took a sip.
"tasty?"
Lin Feng asked.
"taste not good!"
The girl shook her head. "It's a bit sour and strong. It feels like the wine a man drinks."
Lin Feng thought to himself that you have a very accurate feeling, this is indeed a man's wine.
"Can you buy me another drink? I want a girly drink this time."
The girl leaned closer to Lin Feng, just enough for him to see the whiteness of her chest.
Her big watery eyes flickered with a hint of pleading.
Lin Feng remained unmoved and watched her performance quietly.
A wine-selling agent?
He was already alert.
"Margaret, this gentleman cannot drink. Don't bother him."
At this time, the voice of the bar owner came from behind, and it sounded like he had known this tout for a long time.
"What? Dad, why didn't you tell me earlier? I wasted so much time."
Margaret glared at Lin Feng, then turned around and looked for other prey.
Lin Feng was speechless. He treated me like a fool and yet he accused me of wasting his time.
"Your daughter?"
"Well, it's vacation time from college, so I came to help out at the bar."
The boss looked quite helpless. He told her not to come to help, but she insisted on coming. And the bar was not a good place.
But you know what, the bar's business has improved a lot since she came.
It seems that her trick of looking for people to drink for free has helped the bar boost its performance.
Deng Deng Deng!
The two were chatting when Margaret came back.
She walked in front of Lin Feng and stared at his face for a long time:
"I know you, you are the fake Kaka from Inter Milan!"
One sentence exposed her identity as a Kaka fan.
Lin Feng was a little confused. How come her father was an Inter Milan die-hard, but her daughter was an AC Milan die-hard?
(End of this chapter)
