long live football

Although the office door was wide open, Carl stood there and knocked on the door.

Ferguson looked up, saw that it was Carl, and took off his reading glasses with a smile: "Come in."

Carl put down the tray, brought out a cup of steaming black tea and placed it in front of Ferguson, and took away the already cold cup on the table.

Ferguson looked at the black tea suspiciously: "I don't..."

"Semi-skimmed milk, no sugar added." Carl said with a smile, "I asked Aunt Katie."

Ferguson raised his eyebrows in surprise this time, he beckoned Carl to sit down first, and then said: "Since Katie has taught you how to make black tea that suits my taste, it means you must have something embarrassing to tell me. Speak."

Carl moved his gaze to the window behind Ferguson: "Boss, I...I'm going to leave."

Ferguson stared at Carl for a while, then suddenly shook his head and smiled: "I'm just saying, no wonder that old Laurie suddenly came to chat with me last night."

"Father called you?" Carl struggled, "I told him that I was going to say it myself."

"He didn't tell me this, he just kept nagging about the past." Ferguson said sadly: "Although I knew you would leave a long time ago, I didn't expect it to be so early. Which team is it?"

"Munich 1860, this season they fell to the second division."

Ferguson nodded and said: "It's an old team. Although there are not many glorious records in history, the youth training has always been very good. Many international players of the German national team come from there. You are sure to support this team alone. Team?"

"I don't know, but I want to try it." Carl said with a smile: "If you fall badly, it's a big deal to get up again."

Ferguson stared at Carl for a while, and suddenly sighed: "Your energy is exactly the same as Laurie. I used to play professional league with him, but neither of us has the talent to become a star, so I chose to retire and study to become a coach." , but he resolutely used all his savings to start a factory. Business is a business that none of us are familiar with. I persuaded him, but he decided to do it according to his own mind. Fortunately, we all succeeded in the end. .”

Carl didn't answer because he didn't know what to say.

Ferguson picked up the black tea and took a sip, as if he was talking to Carl, but also as if he was reading to himself: "Compared with my time, the profession of coaching is more and more dangerous."

Carl didn't understand: "Dangerous?"

"What about the chairman of Munich 1860?"

"He was an old classmate of my father's, I guess a college classmate, and he promised me that he would give me full trust and a say in transfer matters."

"Then you have achieved the first step: find a good chairman for yourself. This is also the most important step, because too many people in the coaching industry have been fired unconventionally." Ferguson made a point Very disdainful expression: "I don't understand what the chairmen are thinking. Many head coaches are doing a good job. The night before, they were still thinking about how to play next week's game, but they were fired the next day. Frequent Changing coaches sometimes doesn't change the team's plight, it can even make the club worse."

Karl wondered if Ferguson was implying Real Madrid's chairman Florentino, or AC Milan's chairman Berlusconi, or Chelsea's new boss Abramovich?These three chairmen have a common feature, that is, dictatorship. Although the club has set up the position of head coach, the coach seems to be only responsible for playing the game. Any important decision of the team still needs to be approved by the boss before it can be implemented.This is very different from Manchester United. Ferguson is equivalent to the King of the Red Devils, and the boss Edwards has almost delegated all rights to him.

Ferguson continued: "Coaching is an industry that requires unremitting efforts, and it is also a result-oriented industry. Sometimes you only need to sacrifice everything for the work, and you need a little luck. Carl, when you take this step , I hope God bless you and good luck."

For some reason, Carl felt his nose a little sore.

"Thank you, Uncle Alex." He said heartily, "Although I don't believe in religion, I hope God will bless you and bring more championships to Manchester United."

Ferguson winked at him: "Then wish me more Champions League trophies."

"...Before I bring the team back to Europe, I hope that the gods in the dark can grant you this wish." Karl also winked at him: "But when I also come to the Champions League, BOSS, we are opponents gone."

Ferguson laughed heartily: "I am really looking forward to that day."

……

Carl has not been at Old Trafford for a long time, not even a season, but he is quite familiar with most of the stars in the dressing room, let alone made a few friends.

He held a farewell party at the Red Lion bar, everyone came, even Ferguson, but the latter showed up for less than a quarter of an hour, drank a glass of champagne and left with his wife, but it was like other People conveyed a signal-although Karl was about to leave, his identity as a "Manchester United man" was personally recognized by Ferguson.

The club leaves so many players and coaches every year, but not everyone is honored to invite Ferguson.Because of this, Manchester United's big-name players are more polite to Carl, including Wayne Rooney, who only transferred to Manchester United this summer and has not established much personal relationship with Carl.

Football is not small, it is not big, maybe someday we will meet again in the world?

Fanny first congratulated Carl, and then teased him: "If you become rich in the future, maybe I will still want to beg for a bowl of food from your subordinates."

Carl said with a smile: "If you, the great Buddha, are willing to come, I must welcome you with both hands and feet, but I'm afraid that you think the team is not good enough."

"Every player will retire. I'm 28. How many years do you think my peak period will last?" Fanny smiled and thumped Karl's chest: "I read in the newspaper that the financial situation of Munich 1860 is not very good. Even if I am willing to follow you now, the chairman of your club probably won’t be able to afford me. After a few years I can still play football, but I don’t want to stay in a wealthy club anymore, don’t forget what you said.”

Carl pointed to his head: "I can't forget, I have a good memory." Ruud van Nistelrooy said such words in his peak period, which is enough to show that he must have started thinking about his retreat a long time ago.Giants are sometimes so snobbish, even the top stars, once they are over 30 years old, their physical fitness and status will be questioned, and when they are around 35 years old, most of the meritorious players can no longer stay. At that time, the older superstars either left or retired, which has almost become a practice in European football.

If Van Nistelrooy also encounters such a situation in the future, and he can really continue to play, then Karl will help his friend without hesitation—of course, the premise is that Van Nistelrooy’s salary is not too harsh. It's not a good place for his team to make some money before retiring.

After chatting with Carl for a while, Fanny was dragged away by other teammates to play a game of darts. The bet was that the loser would be topless and graffitied on his body and had to take a group photo.

Carl held his glass and said goodbye to people everywhere, until he found Ronaldo standing alone at the door of the bar, so he opened the door and went out.

"Why don't you play games with everyone?"

Ronaldo turned his head and looked inside through the window. Ferdinand lost the first game, and at the moment he was taking off his shirt unwillingly under the booing of other teammates.

"It's very lively even without me." Ronaldo curled his lips and said indifferently.

"Today is my last gathering with everyone. I hope you will be happy." Carl looked into Ronaldo's eyes: "So, can you tell me why you are unhappy?"

Ronaldo raised his chin and gestured towards the door.

Carl looked over and saw that there was a row of shelves stacked with various newspapers for bar customers to read. He walked over and flipped through the headlines of each newspaper: "Ronaldo is the culprit of Manchester United's internal strife?" ("Mirror")

"Sit on the bench together, Alan and Ronaldinho ignore each other" ("Manchester Evening News")

"Is it really suitable for Manchester United to be a substitute Ronaldinho after one year of transfer? (The Independent)

"It's not that I'm unhappy, it's just that I feel a little annoyed." Ronaldo who didn't know when he came to Carl's side added solemnly: "I'm not the kind of person who will get angry and lose my temper casually."

"I know." Carl threw the newspaper aside casually: "The media will do everything they can to sell sales, and sometimes they just believe half of what they say."

"I still hate it when they call me Ronaldinho." Ronaldo wrinkled his face and scratched his head: "My father named me Ronaldo not because of football."

Karl admits that he is still ignorant of some football gossip so far: "Your father?"

"Jose Diniz Abello." Ronaldo looked depressed: "He named me Ronaldo just because he liked Ronald Reagan, the President of the United States." Seeing that Carl still didn't understand, he Explained: "Ronald means Ronaldo in Portuguese."

"Ronaldo is just your surname, not everything about you." Carl thinks it's okay: "As long as your future is good enough, people will not forget Ronaldinho and Ronaldinho, but they will definitely be able to tell that you are not Ronaldinho." , you are Cristiano Ronaldo."

"You are... the first person to say this to me." Ronaldo's expression was very complicated at first, and he laughed at himself after a while: "When I was still in the youth training camp, the coach told me, 'You will become Ronaldo II'."

"How did you answer him?"

"I said I'm not going to be anyone's 'second', I'm my own 'first'."

Carl smiled, and the idea coincided with his own.

The author has something to say: PS: In the 2006-2007 season, a Manchester United fan made a song called "Only One Ronaldo".Whenever Ronaldo is attacking Manchester United, the fans can always sing "There is only one Ronaldo" in the stands of the Dream Theater, but "there is only one Ronaldo in the world" is now more used Describe Da Luo... Khan.But I think whether it is Ronaldo or Ronaldo, it is something in the memory of a generation, and it is irreplaceable for the generation that grew up with them.