After the win over Strasbourg, there were voices within the Metz coaching staff: "Why buy Menez when we can win with last season's squad?" He's good and talented, but it's worthless if he doesn't fit in. ”

Fernandes' answer to this was: "We can win a team like Strasbourg, but when we meet Marseille, Paris Saint-Germain and Lyon, we need Menez's quality. The question is not whether we need Menez, but when they will be able to integrate into the team. ”

He called Lacombe first and asked, "How much do you love that child, old man, if I ask you to take care of it, old man?" ”

Lacomb also learned about Menez's current performance from the media, and he was a little embarrassed: "He's so talented, I can't help it...... Actually, I think I've been tough enough. ”

"It's right that you're him, but you also have to teach him to serve the team...... My dressing room hasn't been very quiet lately. ”

"I know you have a way, old friend. Frank. Ribery isn't a good boy to deal with, look at how he's doing now. Ha ha! ”

There is no way and there must be a way, who said that Menez is now his Fernandes player?

Fernandez analyzed that the main culprit for Menez's current situation is that he became famous too quickly and too early, and he was a little lost under the pressure. Menez has an arrogant personality and is not afraid of pressure, but it is clear that he has not yet learned how to handle it properly.

What he needs is to get rid of the pressure, re-examine himself and his teammates with a calm eye, and don't always think that Lao Tzu is the best in the world and everyone else is inferior to him. Although he is very talented, in the whole professional football world, there are a lot of people who are better than him. There are many examples of people who are talented when they are young, but when they are older, they become mediocre. So there is nothing to be proud of in being talented.

Fernandez had to make these things clear to Menez.

When the words are spoken, let him go to the reserve team to calm down for a while.

Anyway, now Menez can still listen to his own words, and he is willing to listen to his own words, so he will use this opportunity to correct his wrong thoughts.

It's not a big deal to have a personality, but for a player to succeed, he must learn to control his personality and not let it unbridled catharsis and end up ruining himself. Maradona was a player with a lot of personality, who would have thought that four years later he would lead Argentina to the World Cup title after being sent off for maliciously hurting a Brazilian player in the 1982 World Cup? In Maradona's most glorious years, he must have controlled his personality very well, at least in football. Otherwise he would definitely not have succeeded. France's Nicolas Anelka is a failed example of not controlling his personality.

Finding an opportunity, Fernandez told Menez what he was saying, but Menez apparently didn't listen, and he continued to do his own thing in training. He doesn't think he's done anything wrong, it's not himself who has the problem, it's his teammates.

So before the match against Lille, Fernandez announced the squad, which did not include Menez's name.

Menez was a little surprised, and he thought that with his own strength, he could play as a main player in a team like Metz for granted.

Fernandez didn't explain the matter on the spot, he just said to Menez: "Come to me in a moment." ”

When Menez found Fernandez, Fernandes said to Menez: "From today onwards, you train in the first team, but you have to play in the second team. ”

Menez's eyes widened in disbelief what he was hearing.

"You need to calm down, Jeremy. I guess fame makes you a little lost. "Fernandes was serious, even a little harsh about the player who adored him." None of your teammates are worse than you, otherwise they wouldn't be on my squad. When you complain that the world is unfair, first think about whether you are trying to do it. If you want to succeed, prove it to me in the reserves. If you don't want to succeed, then fend for yourself in the reserves! ”

Many years later, Menez became famous, revealing the story in his autobiography. In his autobiography, he said that after hearing Fernandez speak so harshly, he went back to his dormitory and cried. Coming from a familiar place to a strange place, his parents are not around, and his teammates are unfriendly to him, making him feel lonely and lost. He even had the idea of applying for a transfer during the winter break, so he called his father to cry, and was scolded by his father.

In this matter, the father, who has always loved his son, stood with the Fernandes manager.

Both the head coach and his father insisted that they should go to the second team to work out, and Menez had no choice but to accept this reality.

So he trained every day and was with his first-team teammates, but no one would take the initiative to talk to him, and he silently changed his clothes in the locker room, went out to train silently, and then left silently. It's like an invisible man. And when the second-tier team has a game, he will be called to the game.

He was accompanied by one of the coaches on the team, Francisco. Morality. Tadio.

'I'll record your performance in every game and then report back to Mr. Fernandez. If you want to get back to the first team sooner rather than later, play well. Jeremy. ”

Coach Tadio said to a frustrated Menez.

After hearing the coach's words, Menez was still frustrated and seemed very unmotivated.

To encourage him, Coach Tadio decided to tell him one thing: "You're not the first player to join a team and be immediately relegated to the reserve team to play in the second tier league, Jeremy. Before you, Chu played half a season in the second-tier league in the reserves. ”

Speaking of Chu, Menez remembered his dispute with his Chinese teammate in the last round of the league and the goal he directed on the pitch. He was indeed arrogant, but he also had to admit that Chu had performed well in that attack.

Seeing that he was a little interested, Tadio continued: "Chu didn't even play a professional game before he first came to our team. ”

Menez was taken aback by this. Looking at the performance of the Chinese in training and competitions, he had no idea that Chu Zhongtian had not played a professional game before this.

"He played two seasons in the amateur league before last season, he hadn't even played in the amateur league before, he was just an international student. So after coming to Metz, he was put in the second team by Mr. Fernandez, training with the first team and playing with the second team. It's the same as you are now, but you are better treated than him, because Fernandes at least explained the reason to you, he didn't say anything to him, he didn't play any of the first-team games, he just let him play with the second-team team. However, Chu didn't ask anything, he was a little impatient at first, and then he quickly calmed down, just training and playing in the second tier league, and so on until our first meeting with Paris Saint-Germain last season, when he came off the bench with Leka injured, and then helped the team pull back two goals, and finally almost took a point from the Parc des Princes...... Since then, Fernandes has given him the chance to start in the first team, and he has taken it firmly and has never been removed from the starting line-up again. He was the biggest contributor to our relegation success, so this season we paid €2 million to buy him from Chelsea and make him a very important part of the team's plans. ”

After telling Chu Zhongtian's story, Tadio looked at the thoughtful Menez: "If he was as depressed as you when he was first arranged to play in the second team, then he would never be in the Metz team now." It's not a punishment to play in the second team, Jeremy, it's an opportunity. Here you can play to your heart's content, as long as you play well, I'll record it for you. Someday you'll get the chance to play for the first team. With your ingenuity, I'm sure that day won't have to wait long. ”

"Be at peace, Jeremy. You're a pro and you should know what to do. Oh, and the day after tomorrow, you have to watch it live on TV and write a report about it and tell Mr. Fernandes what you saw and learned from the game. It's your homework. Tadio added.

The day after tomorrow is the fifth round of the league, and Metz will take on Nantes away from home. Menez is not in the squad, he has not been selected for the first time since joining Metz, and I believe that tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, as well as after the game, will still attract media attention and discussion.

Menez then played in a decent and not very good game, but he was starting to look for a team-mate. This was a surprise to several of his first-team team-mates who were playing in the second tier league, and some of them even missed the chance to score because they missed a pass from Menez.

At this time, Menez showed his arrogant side again, chattering and complaining about his teammates who missed their chances.

Tadio laughed as he watched below. He found that behind the arrogance was a competitive heart. This heart he had in Frank. Ribery has seen it on him, and he has seen it on Chu Zhongtian. Successful players all seem to have one thing in common - none of them want to lose. He wants Menez to get along with his teammates and fit in with the team, but he doesn't want to wear down his competitive spirit.

Second Tier Head Coach Jose. Pinault said to Tadio: "He's very talented, I think we've picked up another piece of treasure. The last piece is Chu. The goal that Chu instigated in the last game, I watched, the pass was still very exciting, I didn't see him look at Oblagnac during the whole process, how did he see that there was Oblagnac there? ”

Chu Zhongtian no longer comes to the second-tier team to play, but Pinault misses him a little. It's a real sense of accomplishment to see a rookie who doesn't know anything become the core of today's team!

※※※The next day, Menez stayed in the dormitory very obediently and turned on the TV to watch the game broadcast.

In the last game, without Menez and without Chu Zhongtian, Metz lost 1-2 at home to Lille. Chu Zhongtian was suspended for accumulating yellow cards, while Menez was completely dismissed. Menez watched the game and even felt a little guilty about the loss of Metz - the team lost badly, but it proved that they couldn't play without themselves, and the loss of this game must have made Mr. Fernandez and his teammates know how important they are!

But the next day, the media reports spoiled his mood, because the media said that the main reason for the loss was that Chu Zhongtian was absent due to the accumulation of yellow cards, which made Menez very unconvinced.

It's clearly because of me, how can it be because of that Chinese?!

So in today's game, Metz challenged Nantes away, and he had to take a good look at who the team was missing and couldn't play.

Menez paid special attention to Chu Zhongtian's performance during the game.

"Chu is in a very good state in this game......" The commentator on TV happened to say Chu Zhongtian.

'yes, both defensively and offensively, he showed a very high standard. It's hard to imagine that he played in the amateur league before last season, and in England's ninth tier. ”

Chu Zhongtian had just intercepted a counterattack by the Nantes team, and then passed the ball to Ribery in front, who formed a very threatening attack after Ribery broke through.

During the whole process, Chu Zhongtian did not take a single ball, but completed a task of organizing an attack. Menez himself has played as a midfielder, but his style is to like to dribble past several people before passing the ball. Therefore, he did not sneer at Chu Zhongtian for doing this - only players with poor skills would rush to pass the football out, because they were afraid that the football would be cut off by the opponent at their feet. But I'm Jeremy. Menez is not afraid!

In the next game, Chu Zhongtian completely controlled Mace in his own hands, he constantly interspersed with running, receiving and passing, and connected the three lines of Mace well.

With him, it seems that Mace does not need to worry about the disconnection of the three lines.

His physical strength and speed ensure that he can be present in every corner of the pitch in a timely manner, whether it is defending or attacking.

As long as Chu Zhongtian's figure appeared on the TV screen, Menez kept staring at him.

In the 58th minute of the game, Metz finally scored. The start of the offense came from Chu Zhongtian's pass. After a back-and-forth pass from four people, it was Reynolds who scored a goal!

"That's football in Metz. We have been no strangers to this since the end of last season. Beautiful passing and cutting coordination, the momentum of daring to invest troops in the attack, with the previous series of passing coordination, the final goal naturally appeared! ”

'Fernandes has always been an attacking coach and his teams have always played that way, in Cannes, Marseille and Sochaux. Now in Metz, I finally see such football again! ”

"This kind of goal looks so much better than the kind of goal that one person scores with the ball and five people in a row! It's also more technical. After all, football is a sport of eleven people, and no matter how good a person is, he also needs the support of his teammates. ”

This sentence sounded a little familiar, and Menez suddenly remembered something similar that Chu Zhongtian had said to him in the last round of the league. He didn't listen to it at the time, but now...... The mood is slightly mixed.

※※※Although the final score of the match was only 1:0, Metz won the away game. However, from the perspective of the field, Metz won very smoothly, most of the time they were firmly in control of the field, whether it was the number of shots on goal or the number of times they scored in the opponent's 30-meter area, the Metz team was higher than Nantes, and the victory was a matter of course.

After the game, the Metz players celebrated their victory together, and the Nantes players came up to ask for a shirt exchange. Even if this game is their debt, if they lose, they lose, it's not a big deal. Because in the last round of last season, Metz played very politely away from home, allowing Nantes, who were in desperate need of a game to win, to defeat them and successfully relegated.

The TV camera was pointed at Chu Zhongtian several times, and Menez knew what that meant - the best player in the game was Chu.

Seeing this shot, Menez was still a little unconvinced - if it were me, I would have performed better than him!

Immediately below the TV screen, Chu Zhongtian's running distance for this game was played: 14,600 meters.

Menez was stunned for a moment when he saw this number.

Then he scoffed: he will only run blindly! I can do so well without running...... But this time, his heart was not as firm as it was just now.

Menez didn't want to watch Chu Zhongtian anymore, so he turned off the TV and began to worry about another thing - how to write the experience of this game? He'd never washed this thing before, football, and he could either go down and play it or watch it from the sidelines. But after reading it, I still have to write my feelings, what is this? Besides, he's never written about it, and he's not experienced...... He remembered Coach Tadio's words: "Write down what you see and what you learn." ”

What did you learn but didn't know, what did you see...... As soon as he closed his eyes, Chu Zhongtian's figure automatically appeared in his mind, and he couldn't shake it off, and the impression was too deep. He runs, he catches, he passes, he defends, it's like he's everywhere.

He shook his head vigorously, Chu Zhongtian's shadow was still in his mind, and it was even clearer.

"What the fuck...... Menez muttered, then lay in bed in a daze.

What happens if you don't complete the task assigned by Mr. Fernández?

He thought of something he had heard about when he was still in Sochaux's junior team, when first-team star Pedretti was sent to stay and trained for not completing Fernandes' training program as required by Fernandes, and was fined 10,000 euros for cleaning the dressing room for a week...... You know, at that time, Pedretti was already Sochaux's number one star and captain. A darling in the eyes of the media and fans, Mr. Fernandez was able to impose such a severe punishment. Deal with him, a hairy boy...... There seems to be no more pressure.

Thinking of this, Menez sat up from the bed again.

Let's do the task assigned by Mr. Fernández honestly.

Since what I am watching today is Chu Zhongtian, then just write about him!

Menez sat down at his desk, spread out the paper, and with some reluctance began to write about the "game experience" that he had never written before.

A day later, Coach Tadio took the report from Menez, glanced at it, and laughed, "What were you watching all of yesterday, Jeremy?" ”

Menez was a little embarrassed, but he still had to stiffen his mouth: "Isn't Chu the best?" Of course, I was a little more impressed with him! ”

Tadio saw that this arrogant young man could have such an expression, and stopped teasing him. Nodding, he put the report away: "Let's go to training." ”

After Menez left, Tadio handed over the report to head coach Jean. Fernandez.

Fernandez also laughed after reading it: "Do you really believe that he kept staring at Chu because of Chu's outstanding performance?" ”

Tadio thought for a moment, shook his head at Fernandez and said, "It must be because I told him about Chu playing in the reserve team that day." After joining the team, basically the same experience made him somewhat interested in Chu...... And Chu had an argument with him in the game before. Anyway, he was most impressed by Chu. ”

Fernández thought thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded. "I see."

After the training session was over, the players returned to the dressing room to find that the head coach Fernandes had followed them. You must know that the dressing room coach does not come after training, but the dressing room situation is different after the game. What needs to be said is said on the training ground, what are you doing in the locker room?

A group of people didn't understand what was going on, and stood on the ground and looked at each other.

Fernandez didn't give them a chance to ask questions, and after entering the locker room, he pointed to Chu Zhongtian, Ribery and Menez bluntly.

"From today onwards, adjust the positions of the dressing rooms of the three of you, the dressing room positions on the training ground and the stadium. Jeremy and Frank, you two swap. You and Chu sit next to each other, Jeremy. ”

As soon as the words came out, everyone turned their surprised eyes on the three people. And these three people were more surprised than they were.

(To be continued)