The signing of Claudio Ranieri went very smoothly because of his poor results in leading the team, and the Napoli club did not want to keep the young coach whose contract was about to expire, and did not make any obstacles to Fiorentina's poaching, so Claudio Ranieri successfully terminated his work contract with Napoli without paying any liquidated damages and came to Fiorentina.

The president's office in Florence has become a place for Zhuang Mingge to conduct daily business and hold small meetings.

Ranieri sat opposite Zhuang Mingge, looking at the young and somewhat excessive chairman in front of him, and couldn't help but recall the bits and pieces of the past when he coached various teams.

From 1989 to 1991, he led Cagliari, then in the third division, to a magical triple jump, and at the end of the 90-91 season, he received an offer to coach Napoli, which was in full swing at the time. Ranieri arrived at Napoli with a dream of beauty, believing that he could lead Napoli to great glory with Maradona.

But......

Maradona refused to continue playing for Napoli after the end of the ban and moved to Sevilla;

Alemão announces retirement......

Sirenji, who had high hopes for the team, was embarrassed......

Napoli began to sink as if they had lost their soul after Maradona's departure, Ranieri tried to get Napoli back on track, but he failed, Napoli has exhausted its vitality in order to find a helper for Maradona over the years, but the fans and club management did not realize this, they only saw that Napoli, with stars such as Zola and Ferrara, was only in 11th place in Serie A after the 92-93 season.

So, naturally, Ranieri was blamed for the team's poor results.

Ranieri naturally knew that Napoli would not tolerate him continuing to coach the team, and he entrusted his agent to secretly ask the Serie A teams if they were interested in inviting him to coach.

However, with Ranieri only having two seasons in the top flight and not leading the team very well, no Serie A side has been willing to extend an olive branch to him.

Just when Ranieri was disheartened, Fiorentina, who had been relegated from Serie A this season, sent him an invitation, and Ranieri agreed without hesitation.

Since all of your top league teams look down on me, I'll start over and I'll lead Fiorentina to shake the whole of Italy!

Zhuang Mingge is the first time to see Ranieri himself up close, the famous "tinkerer" is still just an unknown pawn, there is not so much white hair on his head, although the expression revealed between his eyebrows is slightly sad, but there is no such bitter expression that later generations see in TV broadcasts.

Zhuang Mingge looked at Ranieri in front of him, who was obviously much younger than he remembered, and handed Ranieri a folder, which was full of player information handed over to Zhuang Mingge by Antonioni: "This is the player information of Fiorentina's expected first team this season, do you see if there are any problems?" ”

Ranieri opened the folder and looked through it carefully, and to his surprise, half of Fiorentina's first-team squad was made up of young players who were ready to be brought in from other teams.

sold almost all the main lineup and introduced newcomers in a big way, it seems that the boss really values these newcomers.

Ranieri thought so, closed the folder at the same time, and asked carefully: "What do you think of this Florentine youth army that you have built yourself, Mr. President?" ”

'I think they have a lot of potential and promotion to Serie A shouldn't be a problem at the end of the season.' Zhuang Mingge said confidently, and then added, "Claudio, you don't need to call me Mr. Boss or Mr. President, just call me Antonio." ”

"Haode, Antonio, you mean, on the basis of guaranteeing promotion, you should give these young people as much room as possible to perform?" Ranieri asked if he had to confirm this, and in Italian football, how to match the owner's ideas as much as possible on the basis of guaranteed results is a necessary skill for Italian coaches.

"Hehe, Claudio (Ranieri), don't worry that I'll be blind, after all, I also have an international A-level coaching certificate." Zhuang Mingge smiled and took out the certificate to show Ranieri.

Ranieri was a little relieved after seeing this certificate, as a coach, what he is most afraid of is that the layman commands the insider, for example, Lao Bei later, forced Ancelotti to arrange two strikers, and did not consider whether such a tactic is suitable for the team; and 06 years later, Abramovich insisted on stuffing Shevchenko into the already formed team that was not suitable for Chelsea's tactical system, which caused Mourinho's dissatisfaction.

"I just took a general look at the position and jishu characteristics of these players, and I can see that Antonio, you envisage this Fiorentina team to play a 442 formation, with a small diamond position in the midfield, and no fullbacks, which can indeed enhance the team's defense in the middle, but at the same time, it will also weaken the offensive and defensive capabilities of the wings." Ranieri boldly offered his opinion.

'The wide attack is done by the full-backs and the attacking players in the midfield, and as for the defence, the three midfielders who are good defensively are more than capable of filling in the full-backs who have the assists.

'Antonio, you mean, don't stick to positional divisions, you can rush up as a winger when you attack, and you can play as a full-back when you defend at central midfield. Ranieri raised an eyebrow unconsciously, he had never tried this tactic before, "It's a really bold idea, it reminds me of the Dutch's all-out attack." ”

"This tactical system is indeed born out of Michels's all-offense and all-defense mentality." Zhuang Mingge can only admit it, can he still say that European teams will play like this after more than ten years? Subsequently, Zhuang Mingge revealed to Ranieri and Pan the tactical ideas he had compiled these days based on the memories of later generations and the knowledge of his predecessors.

"Emphasize the collective running and overall pressing of the players, and focus on exercising the players' awareness of kicking the ball; In the process of passing, the triangle pass is the main one, and the passing cooperation is the main one; Fiorentina wants to build a team, not a team of individual players, and this is a tactical approach that Fiorentina will never change in the future. Zhuang Mingge set the tone for the general direction of the team's tactics, "Of course, the specific tactical details need to be arranged by Claudio yourself, don't forget our old Italian business when training, chain defense." ”

"Haha, don't worry, how can a coach from Italy not pay attention to defense." Ranieri said that chain defense is a must for every Italian coach.

However, if this improved chain defence, which is based on overall pressing and collective running, is fully formed, I am afraid it will be even more terrifying, Ranieri thought to himself.

"One more thing, at the moment we have Batistuta in the front line and Effenberg at the heart of the team, these two players have the ability to take on the responsibility of the team's attack, but in terms of defence, I want to be able to bring in a player who is the best to play in his first year, after all, these players are too young, Tomasi has not played in the professional league, Bilindley, Gianni Keda and Jonty have only played in the lower leagues for less than a season, and they need to adapt to the rhythm of the second division."

"Well, I think you convinced me, Claudio. Do you have a player that fits this tactical system and can you recommend? I'm going to liaise with the head of the transfer department, Hercule [Poirot], who is in charge of bringing the players we need to the team. ”

It should be added that until the end of '95, before the Boseman Act came into effect, players had little say in where their transfers went. Generally speaking, if a player wants to transfer to another team, the club that brought in the player must pay a transfer fee that satisfies the other team, otherwise the player will not be able to leave even if the contract expires (please refer to the Boseman Act for details); And if the club wants to sell a player, and there is a team that can afford to bring it in, then the player can only be transferred, the more famous case is Dunga (who moved to Pescara from Fiorentina in '92), unless it is a superstar like Roberto Baggio and Baresi, no one dares to sell them to a lower team without their consent.

In short, in European football before the implementation of the Bosman Act, the situation of the players was very bad, and most of them could not decide their own fate, and this was Zhuang Mingge's chance.

"Torino midfielder Coys, or Napoli midfielder Kripa." Ranieri thought for a moment and gave his own advice.

"Weishenme doesn't buy Ferrara? Napoli should not block the deal. Zhuang Mingge suddenly had a whim and wanted to take the test for Ranieri.

"But Ferrara is a member of the national team and is likely to participate in next year's Shijie Cup, and if he is allowed to play in the second division next season, it will not only cost him his place in the national team, but also make him hate Fiorentina, and the gains outweigh the losses." Ranieri explained, "But the situation of Cois and Kripa is different, Sacchi is a person I know well, he is very stubborn, and he also trusts the combination of Albertini and Dino Baggio, plus Juventus's Conte and Inter Milan's Berti, and it is only the newcomer Coyce and the age advantage of Kripa who have no chance of entering the national team at all." ”

"Good analysis, welcome to Florence, Claudio." Zhuang Mingge applauded Ranieri's analysis and said happily.

"I'm also very happy to be in charge of Fiorentina, Antonio."