I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 324: Chapter 18: Protests and Conflicts (Part 2)

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Pellegrini can understand the fans’ shouts. After all, in the dead of night, he too tosses and turns in bed, thinking of Chen Zhong’s two heavy cannons in his first match.

But...

The opponent is Barcelona, it’s Guardiola!

The Guardiola who won the Barcelona coach position over Mourinho is no longer a newbie, but a famous coach who reached his peak at the start.

And his Barcelona is known as the ”Cosmic Team.”

The match between Real Madrid and Villarreal ended at 0:1.

Valverde’s lineup in this match was heavily criticized, and Villarreal fans began to miss Pellegrini, at least under Pellegrini, Villarreal was very stable in their matches.

Moreover, Pellegrini was not dismissed due to poor performance, but was poached by Real Madrid directly by paying a penalty fee.

This makes Villarreal fans miss him even more.

Yet, Pellegrini was also disliked by some Real Madrid fans, who felt that Pellegrini’s Real Madrid did not deliver the ”tiki-taka” style they wanted, and that Pellegrini’s personality was too small, making Real Madrid look like a mid-tier team rather than a powerhouse...

Of course, the most crucial aspect was Pellegrini’s use of Chen Zhong, with some fans even holding signs asking: ”Where is the Chen from the first match?”

On top of that, comments regarding Chen Zhong’s 12 million euro annual salary also surfaced.

One mainstream opinion was: ”If Chen plays like this, he’s not worth the 12 million euros per year.”

Such remarks also completely unsettled some extreme Real Madrid fans.

There was even a small group who started holding banners outside the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, a scene that shocked many fans of other teams, even sparking discussions online in China.

”You definitely won’t believe what I saw.”

”Didn’t I go to Madrid? I didn’t schedule any game visits due to time constraints.”

”But since I’m here, I must at least buy a Chen Zhong jersey to take back! After all, he’s Asia’s pride.”

”But! But!”

”I actually saw fans protesting!”

”Protesting even when the team is on a 5-game winning streak in all competitions!!”

In China, the number of people discussing football increased significantly, and when talking about Europe, Chen Zhong and Real Madrid naturally came up.

Among them were many new fans who even considered Barcelona and Real Madrid to be teams of the same level.

For this Chinese netizen’s shock, fans soon replied, with a highly upvoted response: ”Thanks for the invitation, I’m in Kyoto, just got off the plane, it’s actually quite normal. After all, at Real Madrid, you could get fired even if you win the championship.”

The comment about getting fired after winning the championship referred to a few years back when Capello led Real Madrid to regain the league title, only to be fired while on vacation.

Although his successor Schuster unearthed the supernova Chen Zhong and led Real Madrid to break several records, defend the league title, and win the Spanish Super Cup, and temporarily broke the curse of the Champions League Round of 16 exits.

After Calderon’s dismissal, many fans still considered it one of Calderon’s ”blunders.”

Some even fantasized that if Capello were still around, having previously promoted Torres to the first team with high hopes, he surely would have discovered Chen Zhong, perhaps even going further in the Champions League that season.

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The fans’ voices naturally caught the attention of Real Madrid Club’s top management.

With the Ballon d’Or announcement day approaching, Florentino started to worry as well. Currently, the two front-runners for the Ballon d’Or are Messi and C. Ronaldo, and due to only half a season’s brilliance last season, Chen Zhong didn’t even make the Ballon d’Or candidate list.

This prompted ridicule from Catalonia Region’s mouthpieces.

”The symbol of Real Madrid isn’t even in the Ballon d’Or candidate list.”

Such comments left many Real Madrid fans speechless, while also causing some to turn their focus to another award, the Golden Boy Award.

Originally, in 2007, there was an award created in 1978 by a well-known Italian sports magazine, ”Sports Battle Report,” given to European players under 21, which was called the ”Small Ballon d’Or.”

However, this award was displaced by the Golden Boy Award founded by Italy’s ”Torino Sports Newspaper” in 2003.

It’s worth noting that the last recipient of the Small Ballon d’Or is none other than the current Ballon d’Or hot favorite Messi.

And the inaugural winner of the Golden Boy Award is Van der Vaart, who is currently not highly regarded by coach Pellegrini within Real Madrid.

Though Van der Vaart may seem ”underwhelming” now, the Golden Boy Award has produced players like Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Francisco Fabregas, and Sergio Aguero, who are all currently thriving in top teams.

Hence the Golden Boy Award is also known as the ”big day for geniuses,” and only young talents winning the Golden Boy Award can be called geniuses.

Florentino is actively working on getting Chen Zhong the Golden Boy Award, and Chen Zhong’s biggest competitor now is Pato, who plays for Milan.

This player already showcased his remarkable talent last season, and since the start of the new season, he has been performing exceptionally well.

Guti and Pato have good chemistry, and with Raul, both continuously set up Pato, allowing Pato to soar high this season.

Originally, Chen Zhong was the player with the highest chance of winning the Golden Boy Award.

After all, last season, despite leaving for half a season, Chen Zhong quickly regained his form, helping Milan to win the Serie A championship and UEFA Europa League, and becoming Milan’s cornerstone in the latter part of the season.

But because Pato was also part of that Milan team, and due to playing an extra half-season, in this case, the two are on even footing, making it dependent on their club performances in the first half of this season.

During such evaluations, offensive players often have an advantage over defensive players.

If based on Chen Zhong’s performance in the first league match, winning the Golden Boy Award would be a certainty, but Pellegrini’s current tactics completely rendered Chen Zhong a mere supporting player.

This placed Chen Zhong at a disadvantage in the Golden Boy Award competition.

Florentino called Pellegrini, trying to correct his approach, and days later, Pellegrini called back, saying his tactics had received Chen Zhong’s personal approval.

This made Florentino grind his teeth in anger.

Florentino: The obedient child is just too naive. Where are the good people in this society! Everyone is selfish...

Perhaps, at that time, Pellegrini had sealed his fate in Florentino’s eyes.

He simply didn’t fit with the aura of Real Madrid.

”I hear that Cristiano now gets along well with Chen...”

Thoughts flashed in Florentino’s eyes. C. Ronaldo’s agent is Mendes, who has always wanted to do business with Real Madrid, and Mourinho’s agent is also Mendes.

Florentino had previously discussed the ”transfer” of Mourinho with Mendes, but due to various concerns, he didn’t agree. But now it seems feasible.

The question is if Mourinho would come.

Florentino also had concerns, primarily that Mourinho is doing well at Inter Milan, and although Mendes speaks highly, they hadn’t really discussed it seriously. Besides, Pellegrini was competent and familiar with La Liga.

The only issue was his disobedience...

Not obedient at all!