The Legendary Chairman Novel - Chapter 022

022 Build a Platform to Sing a Big Play
Thorpe Arch Training Base, first team training ground.

The weather today is very good. After a heavy rain yesterday, the air is much fresher now. And today, there was a gentle breeze. It was very comfortable.

Zhong Cheng stood in front of the first-team players, extremely serious.

The Leeds United first team is no longer as embarrassed as it was when he bought Leeds United. Now that there are 19 players in the Leeds United first team, it can barely be considered a team in terms of numbers.

However, as far as the team’s current staffing is concerned, there is still a big gap between them and a complete team.

There are only two goalkeepers now. As long as there are no serious injuries, the two of them are enough. Moreover, if he really couldn’t do it, he could go to the youth team or the reserve team to transfer a goalkeeper.

At present, the number of people on the defensive line is the largest, and there is even a bit of excess, nine people.

However, Dubury was injured at the back, Ladberg was too old, Kilgallon was too young, Richard was too short, Zhong Cheng was a little worried after hitting him, he and many others would become full-back and back substitutes, and Carlisle, who joined freely, was also a substitute.

So, to be honest, Leeds United’s centre-back position still needs to be reinforced.

The full-backs were Sagna, Zimbonda, Gary Kelly and others, which was enough for the full-backs.

The missing midfielder is Las Diarra at the back, Richardson is his substitute and Modric at the front, he needs a substitute.

There are currently three full-backs-Ribery, Lennon and Milner-and the full-backs must bring in at least one player.

There are only two players in Leeds United’s front line, with Michael Rikitts and Huntelaar loyal to him on a free transfer and at least two in front.

Therefore, for the time being, Zhong Cheng still needed to bring in at least one waist, one waist, one winger and two strikers, a total of five people.

Leeds United are still far from a full team.

Most importantly, Zhong Cheng could feel that the old man from the Leeds United Club had a lot of prejudices and hatred towards him.

Why was Zhong Cheng so clear?

That was because the team’s old captain, Radby, was glaring at him with a pair of fiery gazes. The furious flames wished to instantly burn him to ashes.

Zhong Cheng had anticipated that Ladberg would react like this. After all, Radby was a ten-year-old Leeds United man. He had a deep affection for Leeds United. Now that he was acting so “nonsense”, it would be strange if he wasn’t angry.

However, at this moment, Zhong Cheng ignored Radberg and swept his eyes across the faces of all the players in Leeds United, gazing at their expressions.

The players were filled with anger, worry, resistance, ridicule and grief …

Zhong Cheng sighed. It seemed that he really had a long way to go before he could integrate Leeds United.

However, the mood of the players he had brought in was not bad. Although he was slightly worried, Zhong Cheng could feel the unyielding fighting spirit in their hearts.

Cough cough!

Looking at the rows of players in front of him, Zhong Cheng coughed and attracted their attention.

Zhong Cheng said, “I know that some of you hate me and some of you doubt me. At this moment, some of you must be cursing at me, laughing at me, insulting me … What I want to say is that none of this matters! Right now, the only thing that matters to you is that from now on, I am your head coach!”

Zhong Cheng scanned the faces of the Leeds players seriously and observed their reactions.

Zhong Cheng continued, “I know that there are many doubts about me in the outside world. They all think that I am a lunatic, a complete lunatic. They doubt that I have treated Leeds United as my own toy, and that I am doing something wrong. They doubt my ability and believe that I will personally destroy Leeds United …”

At this point, Zhong Cheng could clearly feel that Radberg’s breathing had become much faster, and the fury in his eyes was even more intense, as if he was on the verge of exploding.

Zhong Cheng ignored it and continued, “What I want to say is that none of this has anything to do with you. This is all my business! You don’t need to pay any attention to it. The only thing you need to do now is to adjust your condition and train diligently.”

Zhong Cheng paused for a moment, then continued, “I know that some of you have doubts about my ability and think that I’m going crazy. Hehe, what I want to say is, you must not be so superficial!”

Zhong Cheng glanced at the players in front of him and said, “There is a saying that is very good. Without investigation, there is no right to speak. Practice is the only criterion to test the truth! I hope that you will train well and find out the answer in practice. Don’t be controlled by those unscrupulous media and become their brainless puppets!”

Radby was very angry when he heard this. Zhong Cheng was simply pointing at his nose and calling him brainless! Radbe was very angry. In his opinion, no matter how much Zhong Cheng said, it was useless. This fellow was a madman.

Zhong Cheng glanced at the players, ignoring whether they listened or not. He continued, “Alright, that’s all I have to say about the recent doubts I’ve received. Actually, none of these are important, but you guys don’t listen. However, the fans must remember what I said next, because it’s very important!”

Ribery and the other players who had been introduced by Zhong Cheng suddenly became serious and stared at Zhong Cheng very seriously. Radbe and the others revealed contemptuous smiles, clearly not putting Zhong Cheng in their eyes.

Zhong Cheng paid attention to everyone’s reaction. He ignored it and said seriously, “What I want to say next is my coaching philosophy. I hope you can listen carefully!”

Zhong Cheng said: “I only advocate one kind of football, that is the victory football, because I only like victory! You hear clearly, I only like victory! I was born to win, no one likes to lose, although defeat is glory, the second place is quite good nonsense is deceptive, only victory is worth remembering, only victory is the only honor!”

“My soccer has no fixed tactics. A gorgeous offensive soccer, a cowering Tie Tong tactic, a flowing flow of control, a strong control of soccer, and so on. As long as I can win, all of these will become my methods!”

“From today onwards, you must get used to having a heart that always strives for victory. From now on, you are people who are born to fight for victory!” Zhong Cheng said loudly.

The Leeds players did not feel their blood boil, they just listened quietly. However, Zhong Cheng’s words still touched them greatly.

In the end, Zhong Cheng said: “In my team, no one is the main force, I just look at the state. Whoever is in good condition, who is on! I hope that you can seriously train to keep yourself in good condition!”

The Leeds United youngsters were delighted. They saw hope and were all very excited. Most of the Leeds United players were young now!

After saying that, Zhong Cheng immediately said to his coach, Nai Smith, “Smith, now you will lead the team to train. Let’s temporarily follow the previous training plan. I will work out a new training plan as soon as possible. I still have something to do, so I’ll leave first!”

Nai Smith sighed and nodded, taking the Leeds United players to practice.

Radby looked down on Zhong Cheng fiercely in his heart. In his opinion, Zhong Cheng did not know how to train at all. He did not know anything about the head coach’s work. In this case, he was simply putting a pig’s nose into an onion and pretending to be like an elephant! Radby now agreed with Kevin Blackwell and the others that Zhong Cheng was the grave digger of Leeds United. Sooner or later, Leeds United would be destroyed by Zhong Cheng.

Radby clenched his fists and roared in his heart, “I will not let you destroy Leeds United, I will!”

◆◆◆◆◆

Mr. Zhong Cheng was very busy. He had more things to do than he had imagined.

The most urgent task before Zhong Cheng was not to lure reinforcements, but to establish his own coaching staff, because most of the previous Leeds United coaches had been taken away by Kevin Blackwell. Now, there was no one around Zhong Cheng.

The matter of his coaching staff is imminent, Zhong Cheng first found the former Reading youth coach Brandon Rogers. Brendan Rogers has had a football dream since he was young. Unfortunately, his talent is mediocre and he chose to retire at the age of 20.

After retiring, Rogers became a storekeeper. He woke up early in the day to start work and began coaching at night. Two years later, he became the coach of the Reading Academy.

Rogers stayed here for eight years. During this period he began to study tours and admired Spanish football. He had his own unique understanding of football tactics and did well at Reading.

Rogers is currently idle at home, but it is said that Chelsea’s assistant coach Clarke has taken a fancy to Rogers and wants to recommend him to Mourinho.

Zhong Cheng intercepted him halfway and took the initiative to persuade Rogers to join Leeds United, becoming the assistant coach of Leeds United’s first team and Zhong Cheng’s assistant.

Rogers admired Spanish and Dutch football very much and was very keen on passing control. Zhong Cheng talked about this in the process of persuading Rogers. Using the advanced tactics of later generations, Zhong Cheng had conquered Rogers. Only then did Rogers agree to be Zhong Cheng’s assistant coach.

After taking care of future Liverpool manager Rogers, Zhong Cheng has contacted Italian DiMatteo.

DiMatteo retired from Chelsea two and a half years ago and has been studying football coaching ever since. Now he has the FIFA Coaching Certificate.

Although DiMatteo was Italian, he had played for Chelsea for six years. He was very familiar with football in England. Now, he had studied coaching for another two years. Furthermore, this fellow was also a famous coach in his later life, so Zhong Cheng came to find him.

To tell the truth, persuading DiMatteo was much easier than persuading Rogers. He had just completed his studies and hadn’t found a chance to practice yet, so Zhong Cheng immediately agreed.

After dealing with Rogers and DiMatteo one after another, Zhong Cheng was very happy. This was much faster than he had expected. But now, without waiting for anyone, he had to be faster.

After dealing with Rogers and DiMatteo, Zhong Cheng flew directly to Seville, Spain. This time, Zhong Cheng did not go to Seville to bring in any players. The purpose of his trip to Seville this time was to find a coach to enrich his coaching staff.