I Am Scouted by Real Madrid

Chapter 738: Chapter 24: Transfer Targets 2

Replacing Casillas, substituting for Chen Zhong...

If it weren’t for Adan’s good performance in training, Mourinho really wouldn’t trust his form.

However, considering the weekend’s home game against Levante, it will be a relatively easy match for Real Madrid. If the appeal fails, and Casillas can’t play, starting Adan doesn’t seem to be a big problem.

Additionally, since Adan is a product of Real Madrid’s youth academy, Mourinho is somewhat reassured.

Before the match against Levante, Mourinho also gave Adan a good evaluation in front of the media, saying: ”Many people talked about the match against the Spanish, he didn’t have enough preparation time, it was an unexpected debut.”

”I know many people still have doubts about his performance on the field, but his performance in training matches has been outstanding, and I also believe that in official matches, he can deliver the performance we expect.”

A young goalkeeper made his debut in an accident, unexpectedly sprained his foot, missing the opportunity, but fortunately, he wasn’t replaced by another goalkeeper but rather by a player from another position, he still has a chance to continue. Moreover, Adan’s past performance and experience also add points, so he gets the opportunity to play for Real Madrid.

In fact, as early as December 8 last year, Adan had already represented Real Madrid in the group stage of the Champions League. At that time, Dudek was injured, and Adan got a temporary opportunity and performed well.

That match also gave Adan confidence. As part of the ’87 generation, Adan has been in Real Madrid’s youth academy for 14 years, but he never got a chance to play for the first team until Dudek’s injury in the Champions League group stage.

But now it’s completely different, in the midweek training, Mourinho has clearly stated that if Casillas’ appeal is rejected, Adan will get the starting opportunity in the weekend’s league against Levante, which proves that his performance has been recognized by Mourinho.

Mourinho also believes that Adan has the opportunity to become Real Madrid’s main goalkeeper in the future, because he has demonstrated tough psychological qualities in past matches, which is key to becoming an excellent goalkeeper.

The matter of Casillas’ red card and the team’s goalkeeper selection has come to an end. It’s indisputable that Chen Zhong will not deepen his role as a goalkeeper.

And Mourinho’s mindset now is not focused on the immediate deadlock.

Looking at what’s in sight and thinking about what’s in the pot, this describes Mourinho’s mindset right now.

This weekend, Real Madrid’s opponent will be Levante. Although Mourinho doesn’t admit it, he has placed his focus on preparation for the Champions League match against Lyon three days later. However, the players inside the team are well aware that Mourinho doesn’t really care about the match against Levante.

Because during training, Mourinho rehearsed several changes in the lineup for the match against Levante. These changes won’t hurt the main frame of the team because the main framework is still there, for example, Albiol will replace Pepe.

But if you say this is an all-main lineup, that’s not really the case.

Of course, Mourinho won’t say this in a pre-match press conference, he’ll just say he will make some adjustments to the team, saying: ”These adjustments can’t even be considered changes. Let’s put it this way, if anyone on the team feels fatigued, then they’ll get a rest.”

Mourinho has also considered the specific situation of the players and made some adjustments under the main premise of preparing for the Champions League...

For the match against Levante, Real Madrid’s starting defenders will be Ramos, Albiol, Cavaleiro, and Marcelo. Pepe will rest to ensure he’s in the best condition for the Champions League next Tuesday.

Cristiano Ronaldo has participated in almost all of Real Madrid’s matches this season. Whether he plays depends on the situation, but Mourinho prefers for his Portuguese compatriot to rest, although Cristiano Ronaldo has a different opinion.

He said: ”If Cristiano feels tired, I will arrange for someone to replace him, but in the final stage of the match in Cornelia (against Espanyol), he will still be doing a 50-meter sprint, his body condition is at its best.”

Regarding Chen Zhong, Mourinho did not mention rest because in the last match against Espanyol, Chen Zhong played as a goalkeeper, which was almost like a half-rest state.

Many people are still concerned about Mourinho’s unbeaten home record. Yes, Mourinho has remained unbeaten at home for 9 years during his tenure. Everyone hopes this magical record will continue in this match at the Bernabeu against Levante, but Mourinho doesn’t care, ”If the match still has 10 minutes left and the score is level, what I worry about is whether the league title will slip away, not what the records are. In fact, if you journalists didn’t tell me how many games or how many years have gone unbeaten, I wouldn’t even know. So, tomorrow’s match, what I want is to win, not to defend my record.”

This round, Lyon’s Ligue 1 match against Nancy has been brought forward to Friday, while Real Madrid had also proposed to the Spanish Football Association to schedule their match for Friday night, so Real Madrid could have more rest time before playing Lyon, but this proposal was rejected. Mourinho is quite dissatisfied with this, and he cited Sevilla as an example: ”Sevilla’s match is scheduled for Sunday, and then they will play against Porto next Thursday, but Porto doesn’t have a match on Sunday, they rest.”