I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 248: Chapter 4: Winter Window, Chen’s Departure (3-Month Span) (Part 2)

As the match reached the 83rd minute, Real Madrid faced relegation-threatened Valladolid and was trailing by a goal. Schuster let Chen Zhong warm up to replace Heinze as the center defender.

From late August to early November, nearly two months, Chen Zhong had maintained restraint and calm. Upon hearing Schuster wanted to substitute him as a center back, he protested to the head coach for the first time in his professional career at Real Madrid, starting from the youth team.

”Me?”

”Center defender?” Chen Zhong stood up, and the other Real Madrid players immediately held him back. Chen Zhong clenched his right fist and passionately exclaimed to Schuster, ”It shouldn’t be me going on now. We are trailing; we should substitute with an attacking player.”

”Boss! We are behind! This is already the last substitution!”

Schuster turned his head to look at the agitated Chen Zhong, and his temper flared too. They had a verbal confrontation, and soon Chen Zhong was off the hook from going on the field.

Because during their argument, Heinze, whom Chen Zhong was to substitute, received a yellow card for an unnecessary foul, and after he continued to argue with the referee, he received another yellow, turning into a red card, and was sent off.

In the end, the score remained 1-0.

Real Madrid suffered their second defeat of the new season, losing narrowly by one goal to relegation-threatened Valladolid.

At the post-match press conference, Schuster emotionally attacked Chen Zhong.

”You ask me what happened on the sidelines?”

”I asked my player to prepare to go on and replace Heinze, but he refused and questioned my substitution.”

”We could have won the match, but due to various reasons, we ended up losing!”

”Raul missed a one-on-one chance, Heinze got a second yellow for senseless arguing, leaving us a man down. Most importantly, the player I wanted to substitute backtalked against me!”

”Am I afraid to say names? Chen! Yes, it’s Chen Zhong!”

”He will not receive any opportunities under me this season! None! This 17-year-old kid needs to return to the goddamn youth team and learn the rules! In the locker room, I am the boss! I am!”

Schuster roared, his blonde hair swaying in the air. Not long after, his state became extremely unusual, until he openly criticized the higher-ups and said the team would lose to Barcelona, never winning against them. Only then did people suddenly realize that this ’lion’ might have gone mad.

The news of Schuster’s emotional attack on Chen Zhong quickly appeared on front-page headlines everywhere.

Last season’s supernova, Chen Zhong, who played 36 times, scored 17 goals, and provided 16 assists in all competitions, became the center of attention.

People started discussing terms like ”rookie wall” and ”flash in the pan,” while most of Real Madrid supporters stood firmly behind Chen Zhong.

”He is our own child!”

”I asked, the team was trailing, and he said we should substitute with an attacking player rather than putting him as a center back.”

”He is just too competitive, and now I realize he’s a child, a child with a temper, which is exactly how he should act! He’s right; we should substitute with an attacking player.”

”I will always remember his tireless running and robust fighting spirit whenever we’re trailing or drawing and how he always retrieves the ball from the net demanding his teammates to attack, attack, and more attack whenever the team isn’t leading.”

”I noticed it was the last substitution left, and there was less than ten minutes left. Yes, Heinze received a red card, but he got the second yellow after arguing unnecessarily, leading to the red card. Should Chen be blamed for that?”

...

Chen Zhong also accepted interviews from Marca and Diario AS. Facing the camera, he didn’t criticize the head coach but stated, ”As a professional player, I did something unprofessional, arguing with the head coach when being substituted, which was wrong.”

”But if given the chance again, I would do the same.”

”However, I would express my opinion in a more reserved way.”

Chen Zhong’s statement further fueled public opinion; some people opposed his remarks, believing he should’ve stopped after the first sentence and the rest was unnecessary.

But many expressed support for Chen Zhong, and some may not be pure fans but agreed with a simple idea.

That’s right.

Trailing and substituting attacking players, is there anything wrong with that?

There’s a guy named Mourinho! When trailing, doesn’t he use substitutions for attackers?”

Francisco was also present, and upon hearing Chen Zhong’s words, he could only smile bitterly but still showed understanding towards Chen Zhong.

No one knew better than him about Chen Zhong’s grievance, but sometimes that’s just how the world of football is, with some coaches refusing to use certain players because of their zodiac signs.