long live football

No matter how lively the transfer market is, it has nothing to do with Karl, but when the new season is about to come, something closely related to his work happened.

Carl's immediate boss has changed.

Although Walter Smith is recognized as a good old man, a good man does not necessarily have a good career.Ferguson finally felt that he was not qualified for the position of Manchester United assistant coach, fired him, and rehired the former Manchester United assistant Carlos Queiroz back.

Queiroz was Manchester United's assistant coach in the 2002-2003 season, because he assisted Ferguson to win the league championship for Manchester United that season, so he received an invitation from Real Madrid.Real Madrid hoped that he could replace Vicente Bosque as the team's new coach. The temptation to coach the Galacticos was undoubtedly huge. Queiroz had no reason to refuse Real Madrid, so he went to the Bernabeu in the summer of 2003. Ferguson found Smith as his coach. his replacement.

However, although Queiroz was able to subdue the Manchester United stars, he was helpless in the Bernabéu locker room. Not only did he fail to build a good relationship with the superstars, he also suffered a five-game losing streak at the end of the season, making Real Madrid in the entire 03- In the 04 season, he won nothing in the Champions League, league and cup competitions, so in May this year, he was fired by Real Madrid.

Although it turns out that Queiroz is not capable of being alone, Ferguson is undoubtedly full of confidence in his assistant coaching ability. Seeing that Queiroz is at home again, Ferguson immediately drove away Smith and rehired Queiroz.

Maybe all of this is a bit cruel to Smith, but you can’t blame Ferguson for being cold-blooded, because the world of football is like this. If you are capable, everyone will chase after you. thing.

There is no charity in football.

Smith stayed at Manchester United for a season, and his character was liked by everyone, even many of the main players of the first team also had feelings for him.Before Smith left the team, everyone held a farewell party for him. Ferguson's absence made the atmosphere more relaxed. During the party, Carl blessed Smith: "I hope you can find a satisfactory job soon."

"Actually, I already have a next job." Smith called Carl to the terrace, and secretly said to him: "The Scottish Football Association has been looking for me in the past few days, and they hope that I can replace Vogts as the head coach of the Scottish national team. "

Carl was really happy for Smith, he raised his glass: "Congratulations."

Smith finished his glass of wine with a smile, then looked at Carl, hesitated, and asked, "Has any team approached you this summer?"

"Not so far." Carl joked: "For a rookie in football like me, it would be strange if a club really asked me to be the coach."

"You are a very good person, Carl, don't belittle yourself." Smith laughed: "And don't underestimate the gold content of the position of Manchester United assistant coach, otherwise Real Madrid would not directly invite Queiroz to be the head coach, and neither would I. As soon as you left Manchester United, you were approached by the Scottish Football Association. What's more, you coached many league games by yourself last season, which is all seen by people, a real credit!"

Carl was silent for a while, and said with a smile: "Stop praising me, Mr. Smith, or I will float up."

"An ideal assistant coach should not be a deputy for life." Smith looked directly into Carl's eyes and said seriously: "The character is weak and easy-going like me, shrewd and tough like Queiroz, and he has never stopped the idea of ​​independent struggle. The thing is that Queiroz failed at Real Madrid, so he came back, and now I am going to try to be on my own. If I succeed, then I will not be an assistant coach again. If I fail, maybe Just like Queiroz is now."

Speaking of this, Smith pointed out: "But I think, whether it is me or Queiroz, we will keep trying until we can be completely independent from Ferguson."

Hearing that Queiroz was mentioned in Smith's words, Carl, who felt that the two of them should be familiar, asked, "What kind of person is Mr. Queiroz?"

Smith laughed and said, "It's definitely not easy to get along with me, but he is also a very experienced and knowledgeable person. You will learn a lot from him. By the way, did Sir Alex Ferguson give you a formal contract? "

"The club's transfer is not over yet, and there are still training and friendly matches to be prepared. Sir Alex Ferguson said that he will not be able to negotiate a formal contract with me until the season starts. But anyway, I am not a player who has to finalize my destination before the transfer window closes. Guys, it’s the same whenever you re-sign the contract.”

"Then, I wish you a bright future."

Carl smiled and thanked him.

……

Carl can be regarded as a person who can look at himself very rationally. After the experience at the end of last season, he is now considered a somewhat well-known figure in Manchester, and he is often mentioned in posts on local fan forums. , especially among female fans.But Karl, he never indulges himself in this, more often he doubts whether he is worthy of these fame.

So when Oxford United invited him, he was indeed surprised.

Oxford United is a football club located in Oxfordshire. It used to play in the third division. This year, because the third division was renamed the second division, they can also be called a second division team.In the English Football League from top to bottom, the Premier League, the British Championship, the League One, and the League Two are regarded as the fourth-tier league teams.

Some people may ask, England has an Oxford United team, so is there a Cambridge United team?Cambridge Union does exist, and like Oxford Union, it is also established in the school city.However, the development of Cambridge United is not as good as that of Oxford United. Cambridge United is now playing in the National League, and its level is lower than that of the League Two. (English non-professional league)

Almost every English team has a history of hundreds of years, and Oxford United is no exception. They were founded in 1893 and their home court is Carson Stadium, which can accommodate 12500 people. It can be regarded as a team with very qualified hardware facilities.The best result Oxford United has achieved in history is the League Cup championship, which happened in the 1985-1986 season, and since then, Oxford United has not won any championships, nor has it won the third division league championship.

However, because Oxford United is a regional team, they have a lot of local fans, and the two largest independent fan groups have registered more than 400 people, which is an amazing number in the lower leagues.

The head coach of Oxford United resigned last month, and the new season is coming soon, so Oxford United can't wait to send an invitation to Carl, hoping that he can go to coach, and promised to help him solve the problem in Oxfordshire. Housing and travel issues.

Carl hadn't even thought about his future seriously, the opportunity came just like that, and it was indeed a difficult problem whether to seize it immediately or choose to let go and continue to hone himself.Carl spent 2 days looking for information about Oxford United, checked the team's players and financial situation, and then called Walter Smith to chat. Smith suggested to him, "How do you know you can't do it if you don't try it?" So Carl Decided to accept the invitation.

But when Karl contacted the Oxford United Club by phone, their manager told Karl that because Karl did not give a positive answer within 3 days, Oxford United had signed a contract with former Premier League star Chris yesterday, and Chris would become Oxford United. Union's new head coach.

After learning all this, although Karl felt a little pity, he was not overly depressed.If this opportunity is lost, it is lost. As long as he can do well in Manchester United, why worry about not being able to find a second job that is better than Oxford United?

……

Mourinho is probably a person who is destined not to be quiet by nature. When he first arrived in the Premier League in July, many English media lined up to welcome the Portuguese flatteringly. One is because Mourinho is the latest Champions League gold medalist. Coach, his name has been spread throughout the British Isles as early as May. Second, because the British media are tired of reporting the battle between Ferguson and Wenger every day. I saw a charismatic coach who also joined in. In the Premier League melee, of course, they are happy to see the picture.

However, Mourinho did not reciprocate these media, even though the newspaper had predicted in advance that he would be "Ferguson's last opponent", but Mourinho said arrogantly in an interview with reporters: "Chelsea is a Forgive me if this sounds a bit megalomaniac: Chelsea now have the best manager."

And the line that became famous all over Europe in just one day "If I want to have a good time, I'm staying in Porto. There's a beautiful blue throne, European Cup honors. After God, God is me. "

However, in half a month, all the media labeled Mourinho as "arrogant", and believed that he and Ferguson would set off rounds of good dramas in the Premier League.

But this time Ferguson's reaction to his new opponent was very cold. When the reporter asked him about Mourinho, Ferguson just nodded and said: "Yes, I know him, the new manager of Chelsea." There are no more words.

A few days later, Mourinho spoke nonsense again: "Chelsea's goal this season is the Premier League championship, and I will do what I say."

This time even the hype-loving media almost fainted, they have never seen such a topical coach!Even Ferguson has never made his ambition so obvious before the start of the season!

Reporters swarmed outside the Carrington training base, but they didn't even see Ferguson's shadow.So the media went to harass Wenger again. The Arsenal coach has always been very gentlemanly. He first wished Mourinho a happy life in England. When he mentioned Chelsea's season goals, Wenger didn't say anything about Mourinho. Ona was talking nonsense, but said gently: "I think it's not a good thing to announce the results before the end of the season, isn't it?"

No one else knows what Ferguson is thinking. Although most people can guess that Ferguson is definitely not in a good mood based on the character of the Red Devils coach, they never imagine how bad this "not good" can be. ...

Carl and a group of Manchester United players have a deep understanding.

The expression is cold all day long, no matter how well the players train, there is no smile; the temper explodes at the slightest point, Wayne Rooney, who is new to the team this season, is only 5 minutes late for training, and he is pulled aside and yelled for half a day For an hour, Rooney, who was so scared, had a blank expression all day; the lights in the office could be on all night...

All of the above make it clear how much influence Mourinho has on Ferguson.

Yes, although he didn't say it publicly, since Chelsea announced that the team's new coach is Mourinho, Ferguson has been studying the Portuguese.

If the Triple Crown in 99 was the first peak of Ferguson's life, the biggest wish of the Red Devils coach in his remaining life is to prevent 99 from becoming the peak of his career.Not only want the league championship, but also win the Champions League again, this is Ferguson's current life ideal.

Usually in the Premier League, an Arsenal Wenger is enough to give Ferguson a headache, but now there is a Mourinho who is obviously more difficult to deal with than Wenger-it is said that Mourinho is more difficult to deal with than Wenger , because Wenger has not yet won a Champions League, and every time Ferguson and Wenger have a verbal battle, they use this to overwhelm each other.But Mourinho has won a UEFA Cup and a Champions League. These honors are not inferior to those achieved by Ferguson, and the Portuguese is only 41 years old this year, and Ferguson is 63.

No matter how you calculate it, Ferguson feels that it is extremely difficult to suppress Arsenal and Chelsea in the league. Therefore, he is in a particularly bad mood during this period, and he is almost on fire in the team. .

Because of this, at the end of the first round of the new season (Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0), when Mourinho asked Karl to "have a drink", Karl could only regretfully say to the other party: "Sorry, I I can't go to the appointment now. Because if there is news about the two of us meeting in the newspaper tomorrow, Sir Alex will probably go crazy."

"Then you should go out with me." Mourinho laughed and said, "It's a good thing for Chelsea that Ferguson fainted!"

Carl responded by hanging up the call with a snap.

Having Mourinho outside the team made Ferguson feel a lot of headaches, and there were also many troubles for everyone inside the team.

That is full of various contradictions among players.

Every time the team welcomes new players, there must be a running-in problem between the new members and the old players.Especially for a giant club like Manchester United, the status in the locker room is more important for ambitious stars. Whether you want to fight or not, you have to fight. If you win, you can be the boss. If you lose, you can let others know You are not a soft persimmon to pinch.

Almost all big-name players have a bit of a temper. If they are managed properly, they can work together to the outside world. However, if the relationship in the locker room is not handled properly, examples of burning themselves to death from the inside are not uncommon in football.

Ruud van Nistelrooy has always held the top spot as a striker in the Red Devils dressing room. Ronaldo has been trying to attack him last season, but he has been unable to succeed because of the lack of local players.But now Wayne Rooney is here. As one of the most popular stars in England at present, his transfer will definitely have a certain impact on Van Nistelrooy's status.

In fact, it's not just Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rooney is not completely free from problems with other England players in the dressing room.

There is also Alan Smith, who also transferred from Leeds United as a striker. Leeds United is rich in hot-tempered stars, and Alan can be called a representative of them.

And, because the Portuguese team eliminated the Dutch team in the semi-finals of the European Cup, the relationship between Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ronaldo became more tense after the start of the new season.

The smell of gunpowder is on the verge of breaking out.