Chapter 666: The composition of the new trident
The player in the Real Madrid squad who has been plagued by comments in the transfer market during this summer window is actually another Brazilian, Vinicius. As Ferran Torres, who joined the team last summer, found a way to integrate into his new group after half a season of adaptation, in the second half of last season, Li Muddy was clearly more biased towards the Spain international in the allocation of time in the left winger position, resulting in Vinicius often sitting on the bench in key games and becoming the subject of media coverage on several occasions.
And when he went to Bolivia with the Samba Army to participate in the Copa America, Li Mudi experimented with a formation that did not focus on wing attacks in the case of manpower shortage, and let Elias Zidane and Riverola play together with two young forwards, which achieved eye-catching results, and greatly reduced Real Madrid's demand for single-functional Brazilians from the side, making many experts conclude that Vinicius is likely to be purged.
Although the former super-talent has not been able to fully realize his original potential of 180+, he is in the prime of 27 years old, has fully proven that he can take responsibility among the giants after nearly a decade of training in European football, and his gorgeous foot skills that cannot help but fascinate him, there is no shortage of suitors behind the winger, even if he looks like a middle-aged and elderly man in his fifties.
Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal are the three giants who have been most interested in the formidable wide attacker over the past few months, and even Ligue 1 supremacy director Christopher Toney half-jokingly asked Valero about selling Vinicius during the Champions League knockout draw ceremony. In addition, there has been an ongoing analysis of the Brazilian star's future, with the prevailing opinion that there is not much benefit to him staying at the Bernabeu, as the rotation player's role is clearly not playing to his full potential, which is too wasteful.
The so-called no wind and no waves, Li Mudi has long observed from the FM system that the psychological dynamics of the parties have always been in a state of instability, at least they do not exclude switching to other giant teams. If it weren't for Vinicius's personality, in addition to being a little nonsensical, he would actually be relatively stable, and it is estimated that he would have been "rebelled" by the brokerage company behind him.
Just when the time entered August, only about half a month before the transfer window closed, the sports media in Britain, France and Italy began to frequently build momentum for their own national teams, carrying out preliminary work such as throwing stones and asking for directions, testing the seller's reaction, etc., to bring rhythm to the possible transactions in the future.
It's just that in the face of Real Madrid's very vague statement, the old woman and the gunner, who knew that only by shelling out a large amount of euros could impress Li Mudi, they always kept their interest in the Brazilian winger on verbal and indecisive communication, and did not give their own offer until the last moment. Only Grand Paris, who is not very satisfied with the current lineup, sent a fax with a down payment of only 50 million two days before the transfer deadline, but with all floating terms reaching 90 million, which is more sincere.
In this regard, Li Mudi's attitude is very obvious, he can accept the bottom line of selling Vinicius at 120 million, otherwise he would rather keep the star with two years left on his contract, after all, the latter can still provide a lot of help to the team. After the team's research, Valero believes that there is no other better option for the Paris side at this time, as long as they maintain patience at the negotiating table, the probability of achieving the minimum goal of the team manager is still very high, so the deal for the Brazil international has been dragged out until the last day of repeated bargaining, thus ushering in the moment of reversal.
It stands to reason that such a transfer should be top secret, and no one other than the two clubs should know the details. However, for the powerful media, there will always be some special channels for them to obtain content that ordinary people can't know, so in those days, the news about Vinicius's landing at the Stade des Princes appeared in front of the fans' eyes almost 24 hours a day, giving people the feeling that this is already a certainty.
It was only after Rodrygo's move to Manchester United was reached at the speed of light that Real Madrid immediately halted negotiations with Paris, kept the Brazilian winger, and quickly paid 5 million euros to bring veteran Moussa Dembele to the Bernabeu as the third choice in the central striker position.
Dembele, 32, born in 1996, had a previous spell with Lee Moody at Arsenal, which the Real Madrid boss brought to the Emirates Stadium at the time. It's just that in the summer of 2023, because of Rodrygo's sudden rise, the French striker, who felt that his main position was threatened, voluntarily submitted an application to leave the team and was sold to Inter Milan by the Gunners at a high price, thus missing the opportunity to create a six-time championship with the team.
As a result, five years later, whether it was at the Meazza stadium or later at the Parc Olimpico in Lyon, Dembele, who had a somewhat unruly temper and always had various conflicts with the manager, could not appreciate the space to play his strength on the green field, and was suppressed on the bench for a full ten months last season, which shattered his dream of participating in the last World Series early, leading to a further escalation of the confrontation with the club.
Just when the general manager of Lyon Club announced that he would impose a two-month suspension on the goalscorer who was still capable of contributing to the team, and was almost about to abolish Dembele, Li Mudi reached out in time to help his former disciple out of the fire. Of course, this is also due to the fact that the transfer window is about to close, and there are not many options on the market anymore.
However, for Real Madrid, the strength and technical characteristics of this new signing are still more suitable for the overall tactical style of the team, and Li Mudi has been assured by the players through the communication on the phone and the feedback in the FM system before signing the contract, and there will never be any more emotional incidents. Otherwise, the Real Madrid coach would rather bring a young man from Castilla than agree to bring a hidden danger to his team.
And this recruitment also inadvertently completed a change with a sense of reincarnation in Eastern teachings, when Rodrigo's superior "forced" Moussa Dembele to leave North London, and five years later, the latter came to Madrid to fill the vacancy of the former's departure.
But you obviously can't expect the 32-year-old French striker to replace Brazil's current superstar on the pitch, and even in his role as a scorer, Rodrygo can pose at least two levels of threat to opponents, not to mention that he can play at the top of the world at the left winger position.
Therefore, the Galaxy Battleship will definitely make a major adjustment in the tactical play of the new season, and in the case of the first round of La Liga is about to start, it is completely conceivable how much pressure this will have on Li Mudi and his colleagues.
Fortunately, there is only one big change in the team's personnel turnover this summer, after a new round of contract renewal negotiations in the plan, almost all the players have chosen to stay at the Bernabeu, only the original No. 2 goalkeeper Moha Ramos went to the promoted horse and another La Liga team controlled by Li Mudi Ebro for the main position, and the place he left was filled by former Castilian goalkeeper Carlos Abad, who returned to Real Madrid.
The 33-year-old Spaniard is tall and long-armed, and has accumulated a wealth of experience over the past seven or eight years with the likes of Tenerife, Valladolid and Getafe, and the 142's current ability is not impressive, but it is still up to the mark to bring an insurance policy to the Galacticos. After all, after experiencing two more serious injuries in a row, Früchtel, who has regained the main position of the German national team, is currently at the peak of his physical and competitive condition, and there is no need to worry too much about attendance and on-field performance.
The relative stability of the lineup allows the coaching staff to make appropriate adjustments on the basis of the original tactics without having to spend energy on the run-in, plus in the warm-up matches and two Super Cups throughout the summer, Li Mudi has been practicing a new style of play due to the fact that many of the team's core players have not played much, so that Real Madrid can still maintain the overall strength at a very strong level under such unfavorable circumstances.
On August 19, the new season of La Liga arrived as scheduled, and the defending champion Real Madrid welcomed the visit of promoted Mae Ebro at home, and the latter's coach Xavi Alonso also returned to the Bernabeu Stadium after a year, ushering in the attention of Spanish football.
After being promoted to the first division, each team can have up to three non-European players to register, and under the management of the club's behind-the-scenes boss Li Mudi, the original two Celestial Dynasty youngsters have left on loan or in sale due to strength problems, and they are replaced by the twin stars of the Celestial Empire who joined the Coventry Academy together Zhang Mingqi and Luo Yonghui. In addition, former Real Madrid player and 34-year-old Croatian midfielder Mateo Kovacic also signed the La Liga newcomer this summer, plus a number of players from Castile, Alonso's team is still relatively high-profile at least in terms of attention.
From the many warm-up games before the start of the season, people can easily see that the tactics of Coach Ebro are resolute defensive counterattacks, whether it is the protection of the back players for the back line, or the routines used when switching from defense to attack, they are basically copies of the Galaxy Battleship, but because of the ability of the players, the power generated is naturally not high. However, their defensive prowess should not be underestimated, conceding just seven goals in eight warm-up games, and against teams such as Fiorentina, Lille and Schalke 04, which are among the second-tier in Europe in terms of attacking power, have been widely praised.
The club's first top-flight game in its history will face Real Madrid, who had previously won the most attacking firepower in Europe, and everyone will want to know what kind of performance Ebro can perform.
On the other hand, after Rodrygo's departure, how the home team's frontcourt combination will be combined is also one of the focuses of attention of all the media and fans. Before the game, almost all of Spain's sports legends gave their own conjectures, and the results were all about everything, and even the predicted formation appeared in three different versions, which not only showed the depth of Real Madrid's squad, but also showed how difficult the problem Li Mudi is now facing.
However, it wasn't until an hour before the start of the game that people saw that the official starting list turned out to be Mbappe and Pellegri in the front, the teenager Riverola as the front midfielder, followed by the three central midfielders, Ferran Torres and Cesar Herabert The two wingers were on the bench, they still couldn't help but let out an exclamation on behalf of surprise, because this was indeed a bit unexpected for everyone.
But judging from the specific situation on the field, since the home team has always been in a situation of besieging the opponent's penalty area, there are two strikers who can form a multi-point outflanking in front of the goal, and the effect is naturally much better than when playing a single striker. Passes from the flanks were given to the full-backs on either side, and Martin Calderón and Fabas were often on the side to help, making Riverola's position very flexible. The youngster can remain in the midfield position as a key point of entry and receiving point, or he can attack the two ribs of the visiting defence when he has the chance, and use his superb high-speed dribbling ability to make Ebro's defenders have to change positions frequently, which has led to more holes.
As for the opponent's fast and capable striker, with the central defenders of Zori and Jose Martinez and Ndidi on the lookout, it is almost guaranteed that Früchtel will be a spectator in this game.
In the end, Ebro, who had changed from zero to one in La Liga, still paid for his growth with a 4-0 defeat, and Alonso's disciples were shocked by the momentum of the Bernabeu and failed to play their best. But in the face of Real Madrid's strong attacking power, they really don't have a good way to limit it, and this battle is convincing.
A week later, Real Madrid reverted to a 4-3-3 formation against rivals Real Madrid Betis, but overall the performance was mediocre until the 67th minute of the game when Manuel Pellegri broke the deadlock, before substitute Solsano assisted Kylian Mbappe to seal the win.
However, in the third round of the league against Celta at home, the Galaxy Battleship, which once again resumed its two-striker position, found the feeling of suppressing the opponent and played a 4-0 victory. Riverola, who made his second start of the season, scored his first brace of his career, and with an assist from two weeks earlier, he was impressive.
And the team's two big names, Pellegri scored five goals and one assist in three games, and Mbappe scored three goals and three assists in three games, the combined data of these three people is really crazy, and they are put together by the outside world to form a new front trident, which seems to be no less powerful than when Rodrigo was still around.
For a while, the discussion attracted many experts and ordinary fans, and the topic appeared on the front page of Marca, and also appeared on the hot search charts of several major social media such as Twitter.