Chapter 296: A Small Victory
This season's Premier League and UEFA Champions League are inseparable from one club name, and that is the Blues Chelsea.
Whether it was last year's summer transfer, Mourinho took charge of Chelsea with the aura of 'champion coach', or Abramovich once again invested hundreds of millions of euros to stir up football, and then Chelsea swept the Premier League, so that Manchester United, which dominated the Premier League, and Arsenal, who regained the top, could not compete, and then Chelsea went all the way to the Champions League and reached the Champions League final strongly, all kinds of good news around Chelsea, making Chelsea one of the hottest teams in England, Europe and even world football for a while.
There will never be a shortage of topics around Chelsea, and the media touting Chelsea around the Champions League final will naturally not be a minority, compared to Liverpool, as a 'declining aristocracy', it seems much more deserted.
The vast majority of the media across Europe are optimistic about Chelsea winning the title.
Liverpool?
Decline of the aristocracy!
No matter how much the European media dislikes the 'nouveau riche' Chelsea and the 'big-mouthed' Mourinho, they must also admit Chelsea's strength.
When Chelsea and Liverpool are about to face off in the Champions League, the British media are happy that English football dominates the Champions League, and at the same time, they are constantly reporting around the game...... It's hard! ”
Even Liverpool's supporter The Guardian sees it this way, as a media outlet in the north of England, the Guardian has always supported two teams, one is Manchester City, the bitter enemy of Manchester United, and the other is the northern giants Liverpool.
Supporting Liverpool in terms of attitude does not mean that the Guardian is optimistic about Liverpool's title prospects.
Reporting on the Champions League final, The Guardian also made it clear that "it's too difficult for this Liverpool side to beat Chelsea, they need to play really well to be possible." ”
However, the Guardian has not 'completely given up' on Liverpool, and they have been stationed at the Liverpool training base for a long time.
Three days before the Champions League final, Liverpool opened their training base, allowing the media and fans to enter to watch the training, and allowing media reporters to interview the players in their free time.
Several of Liverpool's key players have become the sweethearts of media reporters, and almost all Liverpool players have said, "We are confident that we can beat Chelsea in the final!" ”
This may be the routine before the competition.
The two teams were interviewed to show their confidence in the game, and the media on both sides supported their own teams and each did their own good news.
There will be no shortage of topics to talk about in Europe, especially in England, before and after the game.
For the reporters who interviewed Liverpool, it is a little regrettable that the manager Benitez rarely appears, and even when interviewed in public, the Spaniard has an old-fashioned attitude, and he never seems to have a focus, compared to Mourinho, a 'public opinion figure', Benitez is too low-key.
However, the reporters who came to Liverpool's training base for interviews found a new topic - Shen Yang.
Some British media reporters are no strangers to Shen Yang.
This 'medical expert', who seems to have nothing to do with football, somehow has something to do with football, has led training teams to help Fulham and Manchester United train, and now he has come to help Liverpool.
Working at Fulham and Manchester United proves Shen Yang's ability to lead the team's training.
So helping Liverpool now can really make Liverpool beat Chelsea?
The idea of media reporters is still very conservative.
But in the interview report, their thoughts may not be important, but more important is what the interviewee says, readers will not want to read the analysis report, they prefer to see real people say the truth.
When the morning training was over, Shen Yang walked out of the training ground and was stopped by several reporters.
"Doing an interview?"
"Mr. Shen, can you answer a few questions?" A reporter asked politely.
Shen Yang noticed that his microphone had the 'BBC' logo, which should be a reporter from the British BBC radio and television station, and the logos of several other reporters were not recognized, but if he could be with a BBC reporter, he should also be in the big media.
Shen Yang stopped and said with a smile, "Yes, but faster, I'm a little hungry and I'm going to eat." ”
Several journalists rejoiced, "Of course, it will be over soon." ”
The reporters immediately entered work mode, and the British BBS radio reporter asked, "Mr. Shen, your team has been in Liverpool for a few days, how do you feel here?" ”
Shen Yang said, "Liverpool is a beautiful city, industry and commerce are very developed, people are very welcoming, when I walk on the street, there are always passers-by who smile at me, I like the atmosphere here." ”
"At Liverpool I feel different from Manchester United, Liverpool is a very united team, everyone is hard working and everyone is working hard before the Champions League final! I believe that this kind of positive attitude of the whole team working together and striving for progress is rare in the professional league. ”
A reporter next to him asked a second question, "How is your state training?" ”
"All the best." Shen Yang said with a smile, "I believe that on the day of the game, every player in Liverpool will play in the best condition!" ”
Several reporters scoffed at this remark, and they really found it hard to believe that a certain training session would keep all the players in the best shape.
Although they do not deny that the training will have a certain effect.
But all the players?
No way!
However, they are just media reporters, questioning will not bring any benefit, the interview only needs to note down what Shen Yang said, publish it on the news, and let the fans make comments.
Then a third reporter asked the key question, 'What do you think of the Liverpool vs Chelsea game?' Which team do you prefer? ”
"Liverpool, of course."
"Why?"
Shen Yang's expression became a little praised, and he looked at the reporter's eyes like a fool, "I am now working in Liverpool to assist Liverpool in training, of course, I am more optimistic about Liverpool, otherwise I should go to Chelsea." ”
"Is that so?"
"That's it."
Shen Yang's shrugged helpless expression made the reporter even more helpless, and then he immediately asked, "So what do you think of Chelsea?" And their manager, Jose Mourinho? ”
'Chelsea are a strong team, Jose Mourinho is a commendable manager and their results this season have shown it all, but you all should know that there is a work of art in the world called' The reason why it has become the most famous work of art is that the broken arm, sometimes mutilated is also a kind of beauty, I think, if Chelsea win the Champions League, then it will be perfect, but it cannot be remembered by history, because it is too perfect, but if they lose the Champions League and become a broken beauty, it is really perfect. But Chelsea can rest assured that Liverpool have good skills and will help them become perfect......
After Shen Yang finished speaking, he left.
Several reporters looked at his back, thinking carefully about what he had just said.
Is it perfect if Chelsea don't win the title?
What kind of nonsense is this?
But...... If you think about it, it seems to make a lot of sense!
————
Shen Yang fooled the reporters for a moment and left for lunch, while several reporters sent the interview materials back to the headquarters, and by the afternoon, the materials had become reports one after another.
Chelsea are preparing for the final.
Like Liverpool, Chelsea are focused on targeted tactical training, and the more important part of tactical training is defensive training.
As anyone knows, Jose Mourinho is a supporter of 'conservative' utilitarian football.
Jose Mourinho has always taken defence very seriously, and his '1-0' football has been criticised by many, but the effect is also obvious, as evidenced by Chelsea's results.
In the final against Liverpool, Mourinho also believed that 'as long as the team does not concede, then it is invincible'.
That's Mourinho's idea.
Most teams will also consider this when they encounter major events, not conceding a goal is equal to not making mistakes, and if you don't make mistakes, there will be no failures, and in the face of major events, the role of defense is often much greater than that of attack.
For an afternoon, Mourinho spent the rest of the afternoon arranging his team's defensive formation training.
This kind of training will familiarize the players with their respective defensive positions, not only how to stand and how to run when dealing with various attacks, but also how to determine whether they want to insert assists when the team is attacking, or when to drop back in time to deal with possible counter-attacks.
After two hours of training with his team, Mourinho left the training ground.
As the head coach of the team, there is no need to guide the training for a long time, as long as the general direction is determined, the coaching staff can also help to complete it well.
Unlike Benitez, Mourinho is a true 'professional club manager', he has a lot of work to do, even when facing the Champions League final against Liverpool, he has a lot to consider, such as the summer transfer after the final, transfer is a big job, Chelsea Football Club has already started the recruitment work, and Mourinho is the first decision-maker to make the signing.
After returning to the office, Mourinho did not get to work, but looked at the latest media reports, and his eyes were immediately attracted by the title of a report, "Shen Yang: Chelsea lost the final to be perfect!" ”
Mourinho burst out laughing.
Is this a compliment to Chelsea's perfection or to a compliment to Chelsea's strength?
After reading the report, Mourinho did not get angry, but felt very interesting, because the other party did not ridicule Chelsea, but the content was somewhat praised.
Although the other side is behind Liverpool, this is understandable, isn't it?
What Mourinho doesn't understand is whether the other party said this on purpose, or was the words misinterpreted by the media? He prefers the latter.
Jose Mourinho doesn't have a definitive answer, but for him, it doesn't matter at all, and he just needs to refute what someone in Liverpool's side says about the Champions League final.
Fighting with words is what Mourinho is good at.
In the eyes of many media and fans, Mourinho always likes to talk nonsense, spraying this team and spraying that team, there are always no good words in his mouth, and the name of 'big mouth' is also spread like this, but Mourinho actually doesn't like to do this, but he is his job, he needs to stand up and escort all the players, so that they can prepare for the game with peace of mind, and he stands up to help admit all the pressure.
That's Mourinho's truest thoughts.
When Jose Mourinho stepped up and attracted all the firepower, the Chelsea players were freed up to focus on training instead of worrying about the media coverage, and perhaps more so for their opponents, who had a mouthful of unforgiving Mourinho.
After training in the afternoon, Mourinho started his 'routine' work again.
This time it was aimed at Shen Yang.
Jose Mourinho thanked Shen Yang for his affirmation of Chelsea, "I saw Mr. Shen, who trained for Liverpool, praised Chelsea's strength and achievements, and I and Chelsea felt very honored. He used Venus to describe Chelsea, which is a beautiful analogy, but European football doesn't need a broken arm, perfection is what all teams strive for. ”
'We want to win, we want perfection, even if we can't be remembered by history, as long as the Chelsea fans remember.'
Mourinho's interview was soon reported in the media.
The media who stood and watched the joke could know Mourinho's 'mouth cannon' skills, and they sympathized with the young Chinese who bravely stood up, and there was some schadenfreude in their hearts.
Soon, the media interviewed Shen Yang.
It was in front of the hotel, and after dinner, Shen Yang and Wang Jianzheng went back to the hotel to rest, but they were blocked in front of the door by reporters.
A journalist immediately stated Mourinho's words.
Shen Yang felt a little inexplicable, with an extremely dazed expression on his face, he said to reporters, "Probably...... Maybe...... Mr Mourinho got one thing wrong, I do describe Chelsea as Venus, but it's just a statue, no matter how perfect it is, it's carved by craftsmen, and Liverpool is a soldier with a sharp axe, a statue in front of a soldier, all you can do is wait for the result. ”
Several journalists were speechless.
This metaphor can be explained in this way!
Those media who support Liverpool were suddenly excited, in the battle between Liverpool and Chelsea, Liverpool has not been dominant in results, and it is not dominant in the 'mouth cannon', as the head coach Benitez, rarely stands up to speak is one thing, Mourinho's 'mouth cannon' sharpness is also very important, in the Premier League 20 teams, even the very sharp Manchester United coach Ferguson, in the face of Mourinho's 'mouth cannon' is at a disadvantage.
Regarding the game of 'Venus with Broken Arm', they finally won by a narrow margin.