For non-Premier League players, the run-up to Christmas is often a rare break in the middle of the season.

They will either return to their home countries for the holidays or take their families on a trip for a few days of great vacation, before returning to the squad after Christmas to prepare for the second half of the league season.

But for the team's management, Christmas is busy.

The draw for the knockout round of 16 of the Champions League was released, and after China City beat Arsenal to win the group, they got their wish to draw a team that is not very strong, Porto, the Portuguese Super League in the same group as Paris Saint-Germain.

This is undoubtedly a very good signing, Porto are very good, but Chinatown are also more than capable of beating their opponents.

Paris Saint-Germain's luck is also good, and the Celtic who drew the Soviet Super League are also basically promoted.

But that doesn't mean that Gao Han has fewer things to worry about.

After the dissolution of Paris Saint-Germain, he arrived in Madrid the next day with his wife and children, and made non-stop to the training base in Chinatown, where general manager Armando Marcos and technical director Cantarero had been waiting in the office for a long time.

The greetings were mainly focused on the upcoming annual FIFA Ballon d'Or award ceremony, but Gao Han said that he did not plan to attend this time because he was too busy to have time.

As is customary, 2012 is a tournament year, and Spain, who successfully defend the European Championships, will undoubtedly be the favourites of the year, with Bosque beating Gao Han to become Men's Coach of the Year, and Spain's players will also be named in the Team of the Year.

But the winner of the Ballon d'Or should still be born between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Gao Han faintly heard some rumors, and there will be more voices in support of Messi, after all, Barcelona's players have scored a lot of goals in the past year, and the momentum is out of control.

The 2013 Ligue 1 season started relatively early, Paris Saint-Germain has to play the French Cup and the league, and Gao Han really can't spare time, so he will miss the annual award ceremony this year.

'If there are no accidents, Mourinho is going to be out of class. Cantarero said lightly.

Gao Han also listened calmly, which was not surprising to him.

In fact, the news has been circulating in the media since a month ago, that Real Madrid have been eventful this season, with Jose Mourinho having problems with the dressing room, and after winning the league title last year, the conflict between the Portuguese madman and the stars is becoming more and more apparent.

As with all team conflicts, sacking the manager is always the best option between the manager and the stars.

"The newspaper Ace recently conducted a poll of Real Madrid members about the new Real Madrid manager. ”

"So fast?" Gao Han was a little surprised, isn't this too much of a slap in the face?

Even if Mourinho really wants to get out of class, there is no need to make such a storm now.

Cantarero nodded, "In the list of managers, Pochettino ranks first, many people think that he can take over from Mourinho, German national team coach Loew, current Swansea coach Laudrup and Real Madrid youth team coach Torrell are all candidates in the list, and their support ratings are not low. ”

The absence of Gao Han in the list is not surprising at all, as Gao Han has made it clear that if he leaves PSG, he will no longer coach the club and concentrate on running Chinatown.

But when he was interviewed by authoritative Chinese media, when asked if he intended to coach the national team, Gao Han made it clear that if he really coached the national team one day in the future, it must be the Chinese national team.

However, he quickly clarified that he did not have a detailed plan, but would not coach any other national team except China, and his focus in the next few years will fall on Chinatown, and at the same time, he hopes to promote a strategic cooperation between China and Spain in youth training as soon as possible.

This has also been concerned by many domestic fans, who have called on the Football Association to act quickly.

"As far as I know, Loew is not going to leave the German national team, Laudrup is also very happy with Swansea, Torrell is too risky, Pochettino has been linked with Manchester United, Carlo Ancelotti is at Manchester City, Klopp's style is very similar to Simeone of Atletico Madrid, and the new manager of Real Madrid is not a good choice at all. Gao Han said with a smile.

Real Madrid fans are undoubtedly the most demanding fans in the world, and their requirements for managers are also quite demanding, such as Klopp, Capello, Benitez and other managers, they are often not well received, they want to win, and they want to win beautifully.

Chinatown's current situation is very similar to that of Real Madrid, and the manager is also having a difficult birth.

With a group of outstanding technical players in the squad, there is no reason why China Town should not continue to develop in the direction of passing control, which in itself is also in line with Gao Han's plan for China Town, but after Pochettino, who can take charge of China City is also a big problem in itself.

In the past few years, the pass-and-control style of play has become popular, but there are not many head coaches who can play this tactic, plus Chinatown is now a little bit of a feeling that it is not high or low, the best coaches can't afford to be hired, but the slightly worse ones are not looked at by the team, and the remaining few are a radish and a pit, and they basically have masters.

Cantarero's original idea of selecting a coach did not deliberately go to the direction of passing control, so like Ronald Koeman also entered the list of coaches, but after Gao Han adjusted his development ideas, he had to adjust his list.

'Manuel Pellegrini is undoubtedly the best candidate, I had a brief conversation with him and he gave me the impression that he has a very clear coaching idea, he admits that he likes to be a good player on the ball, he likes aggressive attacking football, he has a good personality, he has a good control in the dressing room, if you look at it from a technical and tactical point of view, he is the most suitable. ”

Cantarero's suggestion was echoed by Gao Han.

Although Gao Han has not had a deep contact with Pellegrini, the Chilean engineer's coaching ability is unquestionable, and he is also familiar with the passing and control style of play, and the attack is quite sharp, which is in line with the requirements of Chinatown.

"And what are your concerns?" Gao Han heard Cantarero's overtones.

The technical director coughed lightly, "His personality is too gentle, he is elegant when he says he is good, but he is more weak when he doesn't listen to him, which is a bit far from the whole mental outlook of our current team." ”

Pellegrini also has the ability to control big stars, such as Riquelme at Villarreal and has a good relationship with the likes of Ruud van Nistelrooy in Malaga, but overall he is also relatively weak, as Cantarero said.

On the other hand, the current Chinatown, under the tutelage of Pochettino, can be called an iron army, the will is very tenacious, and the continuous reversal is the best evidence, and once Pellegrini takes charge of Chinatown, I am afraid it will break the spirit of the team.

'Unai Emery is also a pretty good choice, you know him and I very well. ”

Gao Han certainly knows Emery, the former assistant is still in constant contact with Gao Han, and his Valencia is arguably the biggest loser after the rise of Chinatown, the Bat Army has missed the Champions League in a row, and the management also has some resentment towards Emery.

In terms of technical and tactical style alone, Unai Emery is also a good fit for Chinatown, especially when it comes to training young players.

In Gao Han's view, there are two kinds of managers that are worth noting, one is Pep Guardiola, who has a high starting point and high talent, and is the peak when he debuts, and this type of head coach is often a very successful professional player who has his own unique ideas and understandings of professional football.

In addition to Pep Guardiola, there is also a problem like Rijkaard, but this type of manager is often prone to a problem that is too obsessed and obsessed with his football to extricate himself, just like Rijkaard, who was lost by his success at Barcelona and is now basically no longer coaching.

There are also two well-known managers in this category, Fabio Capello and Jose Mourinho, the former is a professional-turned-player, while the Portuguese madman is extremely talented, but they are both basically obsessed with their football philosophy now.

Gao Han has also reminded Guardiola more than once that he must be humble in learning, and only by constantly learning, learning from each other's strengths, and keeping himself constantly improving, can he continue to achieve success.

There is also a type of manager who comes out of the grassroots, Pellegrini and Unai Emery belong to this category, they will be more flexible, more flexible, and able to quickly adapt to changes in the development trend of European football.

That's why there are a lot of managers who are fit to coach mid-tier and lower-tier teams, but not up to the big clubs.

To put it bluntly, the big teams not only require the head coach to have a very clear coaching idea, but also be good at flexibility, and be able to control the dressing room and handle the relationship between all walks of life in the club, which is a huge pressure for any manager.

'In addition to these two, Swansea's Michel Laudrup is also our option, and there are two others. ”

Gao Han took the two documents handed over by Cantarero, opened them, and read them seriously.

These two head coaches are also very interesting, basically in line with Gao Han's two ideas for the head coach.

One is former Barcelona and Real Madrid superstar Luis Enrique, who once replaced Pep Guardiola to coach the Barcelona second team, and led the team to win the third place in La Liga with a promoted attitude.

After the success of the second team, Luis Enrique went to Serie A to coach Roma, but it was not successful, Cantarero analyzed the reason, and felt that this was mainly due to the high pressing and passing style of play that Enrique admired did not work in conservative Italy, and was a little too aggressive, but Enrique's overall strength was still there.

Otherwise, how to explain that he was able to lead Barcelona II to third place in La Liga?

The other candidate is Marcelino, who started from the bottom and coached teams such as Sporting Gijon, Racing Santander, Zaragoza and Sevilla, and can be said to have footprints all over La Liga, with good and bad results, but his style of play is a bit similar to Emery, focusing on details, not obsessed with passing, and mainly formulating tactics according to the ability characteristics of the players.

Marcelino is very interested in coaching Chinatown, and has repeatedly revealed his affection for Chinatown through the media, and Villarreal is likely to change managers during the winter break, and Marcelino, who is idle at home, is their first choice.

"Actually, I think we all overlooked an extremely important thing when it came to selecting a manager. Cantarero frowned, his face solemn.

(End of chapter)