i want to be king

Chapter 853 Shevchenko's success and failure
On the evening of March 20th, Manchester City played against Wigan Athletic at home in the No.[-] ninth round of the Premier League.

After the team made threats on several consecutive attacks, but failed to score, Su Dong received a pass from his teammate at the top of the penalty area in the No. 30 second minute, then turned around and sent a wonderful pass with his left foot.

David Silva passed Sudong, waving the ball straight into the penalty area, and shot low with his left foot. The ball passed between the legs of goalkeeper Habsi and scored the only goal of the game for Manchester City.

In the end, Manchester City beat Wigan Athletic by one goal.

…………

…………

On the evening of March [-], Kiev, Ukraine.

Shevchenko was sitting on the team bus to the Nobarovsky Stadium, looking out the window at the rainy Kiev, he couldn't help thinking that the UK should be similar at this time.

It rains all the year round in that country.

Kiev is different. Shevchenko has lived here since he was a child. He knows that the cold winter here will soon turn into hot summer.

In fact, it rarely rains in Kiev in March, but I don’t know if it’s because of the upcoming Premier League team. It’s drizzling today, which adds a bit of chill to the city where the temperature is always hovering around the zero degree line.

However, this should not be very suitable for the team from the UK.

Britain has warmed up, but Kiev is still cold.

Just like the past two years, Shevchenko's state of mind is still cold.

When he went from Milan to Chelsea with great ambitions, he encountered Waterloo for the first time in his career. He returned to Milan in the middle, but it also did not improve. In the end, he chose to return to Dynamo Kiev.

It's already the second season, and he still hasn't gotten out of that nightmare.

He returned with the full expectation of Dynamo fans in Kiev. Everyone hoped that he could play a role and lead the team to defeat Shakhtar Donetsk. However, in the end, he lost to his opponent last season and handed over the championship. He only played [-] rounds this season, and he is already [-] points behind his opponent. The possibility of reversal is almost zero.

Fortunately, Dynamo Kiev reached the round of [-] in the Europa League, which is barely a consolation.

In the two seasons since he came to Dynamo Kiev, Shevchenko has achieved nothing so far.

And he also felt the antagonism of the fan base, especially the hostility from Kiev and Donetsk.

It's not just a derby rivalry between rivals at the football level, it's deeper.

For all this, Shevchenko is powerless.

He is no longer the Ronaldo who was in Europa football.

Now he is just a veteran who is about to retire and is covered in injuries!

……

The Nobarovski Stadium was packed tonight.

Although everyone thinks that it is unlikely that Dynamo Kiev will beat Manchester City and advance to the quarter-finals of the Europa League, Dynamo Kiev has enough confidence in this stadium. For example, in [-], they defeated the mighty Arsenal at home in the Champions League.

This also makes the fans of Dynamo Kiev look forward to tonight's game.

At the same time, many people are looking forward to the duel between Shevchenko and Su Dong, the two old and new European strikers.

Everyone can see that Su Dong is in full swing, and Shevchenko is very old, but the nuclear warhead is the hero of this city and this country, and the fans here still believe that he is stronger than Su Dong.

……

When the Dynamo Kiev bus arrived at the Nobarovsky Stadium, Manchester City had just arrived on the back foot.

They arrived in Kiev yesterday on a chartered flight from Manchester.

For a Europa League, only the wealthy Manchester City is willing to invest so much.

When the players of the two teams entered the locker room, packed up, and were about to enter the court for pre-match training, they happened to meet at the exit of the player tunnel.

"Hey, Su." Shevchenko saw Su Dong first, and raised his hand to say hello with a smile.

"Hello, Andrei." Su Dong went forward, first shook hands with Shevchenko, and then they hugged.

When Shevchenko played for AC Milan, he actually had a lot of contact with Su Dong. The two had two or three common sponsors, and they often met at some events. However, because of Chelsea and the media hype, the relationship between the two was somewhat awkward.

There is no conflict with each other, and they all know that it is media hype and Chelsea's operation, but they just feel awkward.

Since then, even when meeting in some public places, they have basically maintained politeness and politeness, on the contrary, they have become a little rusty.

But Su Dong hadn't seen Shevchenko for two years, and there was even very little news about him in the newspapers. The nuclear warhead seemed to have disappeared from the world of mainstream European media, which was really embarrassing.

This is also the sadness after the stars get old!

Professional football has always only heard newcomers laughing, no one cares about old ones crying.

How many fans of Shevchenko were there back then, they would care about his every game, every goal he scored, and even his every move off the court, but now?Who cares?
On the contrary, at such a time, when the two met, they became closer.

……

"How is it? According to the information, your season is not going well." Su Dong asked with concern.

Shevchenko is 34 years old. Unless it is something different like Maldini and Costacurta, otherwise, Shevchenko is basically at the twilight of his career at this age.

After returning to Ukraine, Shevchenko's attendance rate is actually not high. After a season, he spends a lot of time resting.

In fact, it is no wonder that it is basically impossible to recover after encountering such a serious injury as Chelsea, and at that embarrassing age.

"At the beginning of last year's season, I injured my knee." When she said this, Shevchenko looked at Su Dong with an embarrassed smile, "You know, it's an old problem, and it hasn't recovered. At the end of the year, I accidentally strained my back. This time, I took more than a month off."

Su Dong heard him speak simply, but he could also understand his mood at this moment.

At his age, how can there be such a simple thing?

"Don't be miserable. After your comeback, you have scored goals in two consecutive rounds of the Europa League. Dynamo Kiev can advance. You have contributed a lot. I think you seem to be suffocating, and you are going to score our goal tonight." Su Dong laughed.

Shevchenko smiled. After returning from injury, he is indeed in good condition.

The most important thing is to let go of many things. After relaxing his mind, coupled with the team's tactics and the support of his teammates around him, his goals came out.

"You have a strong momentum this year. I have been paying attention to it. Winning the Premier League is a high probability event. If you make up for it during the winter break, you may even want the Europa League in the second half?" Shevchenko asked with a smile.

Su Dong did not deny it.

Manchester City introduced several high-level players during the winter break. If you say that you don't want to get involved in the Europa League or win a few more championships, how is that possible?
No one would believe it.

After laughing, Shevchenko smiled bitterly and said, "Your career planning is better than mine!"

Su Dong suddenly didn't know how to answer.

Although he has never worked together and Shevchenko is not his idol, he really respects this senior.

None of the players who can make a name for themselves in European football is simple, let alone a ruthless character like Shevchenko who was once close to the Golden Globe Award.

Su Dong once studied Shevchenko's career planning with Nuno Cruz and others. From a purely competitive point of view, his transfer from AC Milan to Chelsea was a failure.

It's not because he didn't play at Chelsea, in fact, it was difficult for him to play at Chelsea.

During his time in Milan, Shevchenko began to transform into a scorer or a second forward due to injuries and other reasons, focusing on running and scoring.

But there is a premise that AC Milan had an excellent midfield at the time, especially Pirlo and Kaka.

The existence of these two players gave Shevchenko very strong support, allowing him to complete such a role transformation.

But in Chelsea, everyone in the midfield of the Blues knows, not to mention Kaka, even a passer like Pirlo can't be found, which makes Chelsea's forwards need to take the initiative to recruit more.

That is to say, a center like Drogba, a role like Shevchenko is difficult to perform.

If Shevchenko is in his prime, there is still room for his speed and technique, but the problem is that he has already been seriously injured.

It can be said that this transfer was doomed to tragedy from the very beginning.

Not only Shevchenko, but in fact, Torres, Manchester City's technical department, Su Dong and Nuno Cruz are basically pessimistic, thinking that he is still copying Shevchenko's trajectory back then.

Of course, in the world of professional football, there is never only football.

The transfer of Shevchenko and Torres to Chelsea is likely to be a failure from a football perspective, but if analyzed from the perspective of interests, it may be the opposite.

Just like Shevchenko, given his age and state at the time, even if he continued to stay in Milan, how long could he last?Transferring to Chelsea, you can just make a lot of money and earn a pension for yourself, isn't it also a kind of success?
It is precisely because of this understanding that Su Dong's compliment to Shevchenko has mixed feelings.

In many cases, players are actually very helpless.

Especially professional players.

Everyone can only make the best solution in front of them, but has no way to dominate their own future.

It's as if no one can guarantee that in the next game, you will suddenly encounter a stunned young man who will give you such a kick and make you retire directly.

Of course, such a small probability event rarely happens, but what if it is so unlucky?
Su Dong didn't know what to say for a while, so he put his arms around Shevchenko's shoulders, and sighed with a smile.

"You have to show mercy tonight."

Shevchenko was also happy, "It's you who have to be merciful."

"Kiev is too cold, some of us forgot to wear long sleeves." Su Dong laughed wryly.

The unlucky guy who forgot to wear his long sleeves was David Lewis.

This guy probably didn't read the coaching staff's notice carefully. The temperature in Kiev is below zero, and it may even drop below zero at night.

Thinking of this, Su Dong felt chills all over.

Shevchenko also noticed that David Luiz was wearing short sleeves, and immediately laughed.

This kid is so funny!
(End of this chapter)