I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 387: Chapter 45: Winter Transfer Plan, Kaka’s Hidden Danger (Part 2)

For Pellegrini, Real Madrid’s transfer rights only boil down to a ”notification right.”

It means that when a transfer deal is already made, the club will notify you.

Real Madrid’s next opponent in the league is Valencia. The Bats have performed well this season, with players like Villa, Mata, Joaquin, and Machena in the front, and Bruno, Mathieu, and Moya in the back.

Pellegrini is carefully studying the next match’s opponent in his office, while a ”revolt” is happening on the team’s training ground.

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During Real Madrid’s night training, there seems to be something off about Kaka’s condition.

His face is somewhat pale, his right hand occasionally covering his abdomen, with tightly knitted eyebrows showing a worry that seems hard to dispel, while most of the team appeared overly exhausted.

”Kaka.”

”Are you okay?” Chen Zhong slowed down his pace, looking at Kaka with some concern, saying: ”Is your body uncomfortable? Haven’t you seen the team doctor?”

”They said there’s nothing wrong with me,” Kaka replied to Chen Zhong with a smile, ”Besides, persisting in training can help my injury recover faster.”

”Pepe, Pepe!” Chen Zhong grabbed Pepe, who was running past him on the side, asking: ”Who are we under now!?”

”What?”

Pepe was initially stunned but quickly understood what Chen Zhong was saying and replied, ”Disalvo!”

”Disalvo???”

Chen Zhong stared with wide eyes, somewhat unable to believe it.

Last season, though Chen Zhong went to Real Madrid, he continued to follow Real Madrid’s situation. After Juan de Ramos took charge, Real Madrid achieved six consecutive victories.

He had specially called Sports City to inquire about the situation.

They told Chen Zhong that the team’s biggest contributor to victory was the ”stupid” Disalvo being ”dismissed.”

Possibly due to the troubles with injuries in the first season, Disalvo greatly restrained his ”severity” in the second season, especially after players like Metzelder frequently got injured.

Disalvo started adopting a ”gentler” approach, and by that time, Chen Zhong rarely trained with the first team, plus he usually did extra training himself, so he didn’t feel much.

But in fact, during that season, many of Real Madrid’s players ”gained weight.”

And Alvarez and Serradosa were appointed as the new ”fitness” managers after Ramos became head coach; they helped every Real Madrid player lose an average of 1.5 kilograms during the six-game winning streak.

This was an impressive achievement, considering the limited weight-loss scope for professional players. This also exposed how dire the first team’s physical condition was during Schuster’s era, and why there was a total collapse.

On the one hand, this was because, in the later stages of the German’s tenure, communication with the locker room was almost nil, especially after Chen Zhong was sidelined, he rarely talked with the players.

The tactical training seemed more like completing a task, with no one being praised or blamed.

On the other hand, since fitness coach Disalvo was deeply trusted by the higher-ups, he had total control over fitness training arrangements, leaving Schuster with no room for intervention, who simply gave up entirely.

This led to Van der Vaart, the Dutch midfielder, having severely distorted body shape and extremely poor fitness. At that time, the Madrid media mocked this Dutch star with the words: ”Walking from the bench to the pitch could consume half of his energy.”

Ramos’ decisive move to quickly reinvigorate Real Madrid, achieving six consecutive victories, was to restructure the coaching team. This former Barcelona B team head coach couldn’t forget Cruyff’s teachings. His football philosophy was built on 10 players constantly being in high-intensity motion, with no special allowances for lazy players or weaklings.

Disalvo was ”dismissed,” and Ramos handed over the full responsibility for fitness training to his confidant Alvarez, who had followed Ramos since the Sevilla days.

Of course, to prevent a backlash from the local forces of Real Madrid, Ramos specifically stated: ”I certainly trust Alvarez, but I also don’t exclude others.”

While promoting Alvarez, the team doctor Serradosa, in charge of player nutrition and physical data monitoring, was also trusted, becoming Ramos’ right-hand men in controlling players’ physical conditions.

Ramos appeared very easy-going but had exceedingly strict requirements for players’ physical fitness.

Before the Christmas holiday began last year, each player received a small gift: a pulsometer that recorded physical indicators.

Players had to test and log data of themselves with this pulsometer every day during holidays, allowing Ramos to know if they’ve touched forbidden foods or indulged in late-night crazes. Before and after each training session, players had to weigh themselves.

”If your weight goes up, even by the weight of a strand of hair, just wait, he will certainly freak out. You better not think of playing until you lose it.” A player told the media, ”He records everything. Don’t have any lucky illusions.”

Serradosa custom-made a menu for each player, while Alvarez devised a grueling training regimen. The players suffered but also achieved results.

The changes were evident; during those 6 games, whether it was the 1st or the last minute, Real Madrid’s players could consistently run at high speed.

For the new season, Ramos was sacked.

Because the team did not maintain the momentum of six consecutive wins.

His confidant Alvarez also left with Ramos, returning the power back to Disalvo.

Considering that Disalvo had once served at Manchester United, and when C. Ronaldo first went there, he spoke poor English and mostly hung out with players speaking Spanish in the team. He initially had a good relationship with Quinton Fortune, Diego Forlan, and Van Nistelrooy, later also becoming friendly with goalkeeper Ricardo, fitness coach Walter Disalvo, Gerard Pique, and Gabriel Heinze.

Therefore, after Florentino took office, he tacitly approved of all these, giving Disalvo another chance, and Disalvo initially did well.

He realized he couldn’t be as harsh as in the first season, nor as lax as in the second, so initially, he began strictly following the previous ”Alvarez’s” strategy.

Now, he felt he had the potential to be a ”legendary coach of his time,” and once again became slack due to the ”Real Madrid Technology Training Center,” a project similar to the ”Milan Laboratory.”

Once Chen Zhong learned that Disalvo was back in charge, he was completely shocked, pulling Kaka and saying: ”Stop, this will worsen your injury.”

He then started asking his teammates around for the direction to Disalvo’s office.

”Chen,” Cristiano Ronaldo, after understanding the situation briefly, walked over and defended his old acquaintance, saying: ”Maybe, we should listen to a professional’s opinion.”

”I worked with him at Manchester United.”

”He’s a good fitness coach.”

Cristiano Ronaldo glanced at Kaka, feeling Kaka might be overly ”fussy,” knowing that he was the kind of man who would still do extra training after regular sessions.

Yes, Chen was too.

However, Chen Zhong was not convinced at all. He looked at C. Ronaldo and said, ”Not everyone fits the same method, my friend.”

”And, this isn’t about training.”

”You know, some injuries get worse because they aren’t taken seriously at first, right?”