Chapter 17: A Lonely Winter
In the winter of 2010, at Seoul International Airport in South Korea, the airport hall was crowded with people, and it seemed that there were busy figures everywhere, and a tall man walked out of the security checkway.
With a height of more than 190 cm, he stands out in the crowd, and the pedestrians who come and go also cast surprised glances at him from time to time, but he can't see the man's appearance clearly, just judging from his slightly frowning brows and the resolute face, this is a man with a very outstanding appearance.
Walking out of the airport hall, the man took out his mobile phone, dialed a number, and after a short wait, the call was connected: "Caroline! Tell Ricardo! I'm in Korea, so he doesn't have to worry! β
This man is Degan, but now that the first half of the season is coming to an end, shouldn't he be in Barcelona?
Why is it in Korea!?
It all started with the Spanish Super Cup, where Barcelona and Real Madrid won the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup, thanks to two goals from Degan as a substitute, Barcelona won at home.
Immediately after the start of the second leg of the competition, moved to the Bernabeu, this time Digan started the game, scored two goals in the first half, scored another goal in the second half, completed the hat-trick, and finally the two sides fought 3:3, Barcelona defeated Real Madrid 5:4 over two legs, and won the first championship trophy of the new season.
That game was also regarded as a classic by the Spanish media after the game, because at the same time as Digan completed his hat trick, Kaka also scored three goals in a row, and the two brothers competed in the same game, both scored three goals for their respective teams, this grand occasion, I am afraid that world football will never happen again.
Especially this game, it took place between the two major hegemons of La Liga, Barcelona and Real Madrid.
However, near the end of that game, a flying tackle by Pepe caused Digan's calf injury to recur, but fortunately, the situation was not serious, and Digan returned to the team after a three-week rest.
At this time, the La Liga league has begun, and after coming back, Degan quickly won the main position, and his performance in the first few league games and the Champions Cup group stage was also very good, especially in the away game against Valencia, Degan scored two goals in each half to help the team sweep the Bat Army 6:2, overtook Real Madrid, and climbed to the first place in the standings.
In the Champions League group stage, Deegan also performed well, including at home at Camp Nou, in the game against AC Milan, Deegan not only scored a goal himself, but also assisted his teammates three times in a row, and in that game, Deegan was also rated as the best player by various media.
However, due to the inability to integrate into Barcelona's overall strategy, there was also a small friction between Deegan and Pep Guardiola, but this problem did not affect Degan's main position in the team.
THEN DIGAN ALSO TRIED TO INTEGRATE HIMSELF INTO THE TEAM, BUT SOON AFTER, PROBLEMS AROSE AS HE FOUND THAT ONCE HE INCORPORATED BARCELONA'S TRADITIONAL TIKI-TAKA TACTICS, HIS STATUS IN THE TEAM WOULD CHANGE.
In Pep Guardiola's tactics, everyone needs to serve Messi alone, even Barcelona's midfield brain Xavi is no exception, let alone Digan, a newcomer.
In Barcelona's tactics, Degan's role on the field is to break down the opponent's defense, create gaps for Messi, and sometimes, even pull to the side, give up the middle position, and give Messi a stage for his personal performance.
This is absolutely unbearable for Degan, he has never been in the habit of playing a supporting role, and he does not think that his condition is worse than Messi, in fact, after the first ten rounds of La Liga, Degan's goals have reached eleven, which is still done in his absence of four games, twice as many as Messi's goals, and one more.
Digan, who was unwilling to play a supporting role, began to break away from Barcelona's tactics again and became a lone ranger on the front line, so that not only Guardiola, but even his teammates began to be dissatisfied with Digan, because Digan broke away from tactics, making Barcelona's other players seem at a loss, easy to cause disconnection in attack, and defense will also be due to lack of numbers, out of disadvantage, although after ten rounds, Barcelona is still ranked first in the league, However, it has never been able to open the gap with the second Real Madrid.
Guardiola, who couldn't bear it, talked to Digan once, and no one knew what the two people said, but judging from the next situation where the two people ignored each other, it was obvious that the conversation between the two people was not pleasant.
In the fourth game of the Champions League group stage, Digan was excluded from the starting lineup, and without Digan, Barcelona also ushered in a hearty victory in the away game against Celtic in the Soviet Super League.
Back in the league, at home to Levante, although Digan came on and scored, but only ten minutes into the second half, Guardiola replaced him.
In the following period, Digan became less and less important in Pep Guardiola's plans, and he did not get another chance to start, and then even rarely came off the bench.
Pep Guardiola will only give Deegan a little time when the team is behind, the opponent is defending tightly, and the team is completely unable to open the situation, to which Deegan often responds with goals.
But no matter how strong Digan's ability is, he can't play the savior in every game, but Guardiola only gives him ten minutes at most per game.
If the game is not won, almost all the responsibility will be placed on Degan, and in addition, Messi's performance is getting better and better, and the Barcelona fans who were cheering because of Degan's joining gradually forgot about him.
Russell also came forward to ask Guardiola to give Digan more opportunities to play, but after all, he just sat in the chairman's position, and among the fans, his influence is far less than that of Guardiola, and in the first meeting between the two, Russell was defeated.
Gradually, the media also changed their tone, and they began to hype Degana's world's first annual salary, after all, he took 17 million euros from FC Barcelona in a season, but Degan could only sit on the bench.
Finally, the unbearable Deegan also broke out, and when he trained again, Deegan directly found Guardiola: "Either give me the position of the main force, or let me go!" β
Since his debut in Atalanta, in addition to the time when he was at AC Milan, he has gone through a difficult period, in Fiorentina, in the Belgian national team, in the earliest Atalanta, Degan has always been a well-deserved protagonist in the team, and being ignored like this, Degan's patience has also come to an end.
Pep Guardiola certainly couldn't tolerate anyone challenging his managerial authority, and Digan was thrown into the cold and he didn't even get a chance to come off the bench.
When Digan suffered a cold spell in Barcelona, Kaka's situation at Real Madrid also began to become difficult, and after a short honeymoon period with Mourinho, his status in the team began to decline, with Camuro getting better and better, and Ozil gradually rising, making Kaka's position in the Real Madrid team awkward.
The same striker, more well-rounded, younger, and as a Portuguese, Camuro is clearly more valued by Mourinho.
And as Mesut Ozil's performance is getting better and better, Kaka's main position in midfield has gradually been shaken, although not as difficult as Degan.
But Deegan has a hunch that everything that happened in his previous life will be repeated in Kaka's body.
Originally, at this time, Deegan was supposed to lead the team to the halfway championship of the season, but this time, Deegan became the dispensable person of the team, and the contradictions with Guardiola and his teammates made him ostracized in Barcelona.
At this time, even Russell came to persuade Deegan to bow to Guardiola, but the stubborn Deegan was unwilling to bend his waist, he had his pride, even if he faced no matter how difficult the situation was, he would never bow to anyone.
I hung up the phone and was about to call a car when Degan's mobile phone rang again, and when I took it out, I saw that it was Zahavi calling.
"Elan! I'm in Korea now! β
Zahavi said urgently: "Rod! As I said, you can't be too impulsive, it won't solve anything, and I never think you're a dodgy person! β
Deegan smiled: "Elan! I don't seem to have said that I'm going to hide from something, and during the recuperation period, I just came to Korea to relax! β
Zahavi had a headache and said, "That's it! Rod! Now is not the time to be angry! β
Digan smiled: "In the same way, you should go and say to Guardiola, it was he who told reporters, I am injured, and my body has not recovered to the point where I can play!" Since I'm an injured player, I don't want to stay in Barcelona to recuperate, so it's okay! β
Zahavi couldn't laugh even more when he heard this, the current situation was something he hadn't expected before: "Rod! How are you now, do you want me to go to Korea!? β
Digan said: "No! I just came over to relax, I told my girlfriend before that I was coming to South Korea, this time I can come and see her, don't worry! Elam! I'm fine, that Catalan bastard, he wants to get rid of me like this, he's still too naΓ―ve! β
Keep your head down, Deegan won't!
Admit defeat, and Deegan will not!
For Barcelona, although there are no expectations, even if he wants to leave, he wants everyone in that team to remember his name for the rest of his life.