I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 278: Chapter 19: This, This, This!

”What are you doing!” Beckham got up from the ground, angrily confronting the tall player in front of him. In the recent defense, he had reason to believe that Muntari was completely targeting his legs.

Muntari just shrugged, not answering Beckham directly, and ironically, this scene was already the highlight of Beckham’s first-half performance.

During other times, whether in defense or organizing, Beckham had nothing impressive to show.

He couldn’t win in physical confrontations; his organizing could only be considered average; the iconic ”Crescent Blade” didn’t appear at all.

Milan’s teammates quickly stepped forward to separate the two, and the fans of both teams in the stands started hurling insults at each other from a distance due to this explosive scene.

”Shortly after the start of the first half, the teams already exhibited a strong sense of tension.”

”Some fireworks thrown by sideline fans inevitably remind people of the classic moments from the Derby della Madonnina a few years ago in the Champions League knockout stage.”

”Beckham certainly didn’t want this close-up shot.”

”After all, it’s not about any excellent footwork or beautiful defense.”

”We can see Milan’s teammates comforting Beckham.”

”He might not have encountered a player like Muntari in quite some time.”

”This season Muntari has already received two red cards; his recent actions have angered Beckham.”

Beckham left Major League Soccer hoping to perform well in higher-level competitions and then be selected for the England National Team, but if he gets injured, all his efforts would become futile.

Muntari had already touched his bottom line.

This was also the reason for Beckham’s mediocre performance in this match.

Mourinho was smiling pleasantly on the sidelines; he clearly noticed Beckham’s ”weakness” and Ancelotti’s embarrassment, while Ancelotti looked helpless.

In this match, Beckham was completely not his previous ”brave” self.

His physical confrontation was as ”soft” as ever.

Midfield defense was nowhere near as striking as Ambrosini’s; even Pirlo was more outstanding than him.

In the ten minutes of the first half, he committed no fouls, was violated once, and his passing organization was only decent without losing the ball—truly the epitome of a ”machine-like” performance.

”Muntari!”

”Muntari!!” Mourinho was shouting Muntari’s name on the sidelines. Muntari ran over, and Mourinho instructed, ”Just focus on David.”

Muntari nodded satisfactorily, looking at David Beckham with a particularly fierce gaze.

Witnessing this scene, Ancelotti chewed his gum more vigorously.

After ten minutes into the game, the tactical styles of both teams, combined with the pre-match messages, were basically exposed.

In Mourinho’s tactics, two players were crucial.

First is Adriano, nicknamed ”King,” whose impact was extremely strong. In this match, he was facing Maldini, and Mourinho wanted to use this ”new Ronaldo” to challenge Maldini.

However, due to Chen Zhong’s ”proactive marking,” the effect was not ideal. Coupled with Ambrosini’s defensive return, Milan’s defense seemed shaky but never collapsed.

Second is Muntari, initially intended for long-range shots outside the penalty area and sweeping interceptions in midfield. But currently, Mourinho found the correct usage for him, which was man-marking Beckham.

Ancelotti glanced at Mourinho, who was slightly raising his head with a confident smile on his face.

Ronaldinho was a player who didn’t require special defense; after all, this nimble sprite, even at this stage, only needed a flash of brilliance to either dribble past opponents or deliver an unbelievable pass.

However, Ronaldinho’s passes were indeed dangerous, but he needed his teammates’ help to complete attacks and goals.

It may sound somewhat ”unreal,” but Ronaldinho lacked direct methods to threaten the goal and score.

As long as Ronaldinho was isolated, arranging his teammates properly was enough.

Mourinho gradually adjusted the shortcomings in the match while Beckham was subdued without spirit.

Like sticky gum on Beckham, Muntari only used two ”violations” to directly silence Beckham.

One was to directly knock Beckham down, then use shoving and curses to provoke Beckham’s nerves, and the other was to ”collide” with Beckham regardless, after Beckham made a pass.

This approach was effective, as Beckham made 3 mistakes in the following 5 passes, and after his teammates noticed Beckham’s problem, they also reduced passing to Beckham.

However, Pirlo, Ronaldinho, Ambrosini, Seedorf, Pato, and other players couldn’t handle the ball well either.

All Milan players started to strongly miss Chen Zhong’s presence in the midfield at this moment.

Chen Zhong was like a cornerstone in the midfield, no matter the situation with the ball, as long as it reached Chen Zhong, he could always ”clean up” and find a suitable method to organize the ball.

But now...

The ball became a hot potato; no one could hold the ball properly under Inter Milan’s strong attitude.

Inter Milan gradually took control of the match’s initiative and rhythm but still couldn’t break Milan’s goal.