Football: The butcher in the midfield at the start, the magic bird stunned

Chapter 286 The No. [-] Funny Player in Today's Football
After the game, although the players on both sides had completely different moods, the result of the score could not be changed.

The routine exchange of greetings between players and coaches still has to go on.

However, Barrera, who had lost both the team and the individual, was in no mood to say hello to anyone in Rome. As soon as the referee Massaro's final whistle blew, he walked directly into the player tunnel and went back to sulk at him.

The teenager Aslani, who was replaced by Inter Milan, made a plan before the game and took the initiative to find Chen Xiaoliang to change his jersey after the game.

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, a few days ago, he specifically consulted captain Handanovic and midfielder Brozovic one-on-one with several locker room leaders for their opinions, and got their affirmative reply.

In the current Serie A, Chen Xiaoliang has almost become the common idol of young players around 20 years old and under 20 years old. Like Chen Xiaoliang, he can get the opportunity and stand out as soon as possible.

But at this moment, Aslani saw the angry performance of the equally important big brother Varela, so he had to regretfully dismiss this idea.

If he went back to the locker room with Chen Xiaoliang's jersey, the grumpy Barrera would have to come over and tear the jersey, including himself, to shreds.

Just when he was about to miss the opportunity, Lukaku waited in the player tunnel until Chen Xiaoliang came over, then took the initiative to exchange a few words and took off his jersey.

Not only Aslani, who was following behind, was stunned, but Chen Xiaoliang, who was involved, was also stunned.

In this game, the smell of gunpowder between him and Barrera has become so strong, and he has scored 4 goals. Lukaku also publicly came to ask him to change his jersey?
This will be taken back to the locker room later... Barrera saw, huh?

Chen Xiaoliang thought about it again, and thought of the scene of Lukaku and Barrera arguing on the court during the game.

Could it be that the fat man wanted to disgust Barrera on purpose?

But no matter what the reason, such a well-known big star politely and friendlyly came over to change his jersey, of course he had to accept it, so Chen Xiaoliang also took off the jersey and handed it to Lukaku, and the two even hugged each other with one hand.

However, Chen Xiaoliang only found out when he was watching the news the next day that Lukaku quietly gave the jersey to Aslani in Inter Milan's locker room later, fulfilling the wish of this young teammate.

That night, Chen Xiaoliang remembered two scenes, one was that there was almost no smile on Lukaku's face, and the other was that Mourinho was fighting with the Belgian who had played for him twice in the past. When the striker paid tribute after the game, the two had intriguing and meaningful expressions on their faces.

On the way from Meazza through the bustling urban area of ​​Milan to the hotel, in the bus in Rome, there were celebrations and jokes, and Chen Xiaoliang, sitting at the front, asked Mourinho: "Coach? Are you okay?" ? See you are not very excited."

Mourinho smiled and shook his head: "It's okay, I'm getting old, maybe I'm a little tired."

Chen Xiaoliang looked back and saw that no one was listening to their conversation, so he asked quietly: "Is it because of Lukaku? There is some unhappiness between you and him?"

Mourinho opened his sleepy eyes suddenly, and looked at Chen Xiaoliang in surprise: "Why do you say that?"

Chen Xiaoliang: "The two of you cooperated twice, but the communication after the game just now was very cold, and I saw that when you shook hands with him, you didn't want to say anything, so..."

Mourinho: "You are very interested in him? You have never asked me about players from other teams."

Chen Xiaoliang: "Not really, but he is very famous on the Internet now."

Mourinho nodded helplessly: "I know."

He is indeed immersed in his own thoughts, and he also knows that the former disciple Lukaku seems to have become the number one joke in football because of his poor performance after entering the palace for the second time. He didn't want to say it at first, or For a person with such an aloof personality like him, there are very few people who can sit together and talk and express their hearts.

But he thought about it, and felt that maybe telling the kid from the Red Country in front of him about the things hidden in his heart might help him in his career, and it might make him feel better, so he started softly. Tell with memories.

Although Lukaku currently occupies more than half of the jokes on the Internet and is the new generation of happy football after Sterling, in fact, Mourinho has discovered since he knew him very early that this black player is on the field. He seldom smiles, and most of the time his eyes are focused and serious. When he first met him, the word "bull" would immediately come to mind.

Mourinho had a deep chat with Lukaku more than ten years ago, about his family and his childhood.

This is a very normal process and politeness between the head coach of a giant and the potential new star he intends to sign. In order to shorten the distance between each other, and to make the giant more competitive when signing young people, instead of blindly Relying on money and contracts.

But while chatting, Mourinho discovered that the chat was unusual.

Most of Lukaku's memories start when he was 6 years old, because that year, Roger Lukaku, who was also a professional player, and his father lost his job, lost his main source of income, and his family started Four times a week there was a regular power outage and the furniture was sold off piece by piece until the most important thing for a child who grew up fond of soccer - the television.

This prevented him from watching the football games that so fascinated him.

He told Mourinho that in that year, there was a scene that he would never forget, that is, their mother poured cold water into the only lunch he and his brother Jordan Lukaku had - a pot of milk, so that Get as much satiety as possible.

Bread is a luxury that can only be eaten after credit.

As for taking a shower?That is, after the power is cut off, scoop out the hot water on the stove with a cup and wash it down with cold water.

Although he is only 6 years old, whenever he thinks of this scene, Lukaku will feel that everything is over, and the goal of life has become very simple, that is to live and live with his family.

At that time, he said that when he was still young, he never complained to his parents, but he always couldn't hold his head up in front of his classmates.

In 2002, when he was 9 years old, in the Champions League final, after Zidane scored the famous Flying Immortals against Leverkusen, the whole class was discussing the ball excitedly the next day. He could only Pretending to have seen the goal, and discussing it along with it, then secretly went to the computer room of the school, suppressing his body trembling with excitement, and finally witnessed the goal with his own eyes.

God is sorry, when God closed a window for him, he also opened a door.

Despite his poverty, he still possessed a strong physique.

He asked his father, at what age can he become a professional player?
His father told him he was 16 years old.

He replied, then at the age of 16, I must become a professional player, and I must also become the best player in Belgian history.

When he joined the youth team to participate in football training, he showed talent far beyond his peers.

But this did not bring him glory and self-esteem. On the contrary, he was despised and ridiculed by his classmates and parents because of his excessive height, exaggerated weight, black skin and poor family background.

At that time, he often heard other parents say:
"Coach, did the black kid really not lie about his age?"

"Hey black boy, we need to check your ID and confirm your age."

"How could such a black man be born in Antwerp? Is it legal to determine his identity?"

Lukaku told Mourinho that he was 12 years old at the time, and he had been laughed at and discriminated against by others all day long because of reasons he could not change and control.

And when other children are playing, their parents are watching the game, but because he doesn't have a car at home, his parents have never appeared in the school's playing field.

In the face of those doubts, he was only a child, and he could only defend himself alone, handing over his ID card to those parents, and then watching them sneer and pass it on to each other, like a policeman checking illegal population, or It is like a judge who is ready to judge at any time.

Over time, Lukaku, who was not good at words, did not use words to fight back. There was only one thought in his resentful heart, which was to completely destroy the sons of those adults who questioned him on the football field.

Then after the game, enjoy watching those opponents who were crying and carried into the car by their parents because they were ravaged by him "roll" home.

As a descendant of African immigrants, he wants to prove with his actions that he stands on the court by his strength and lives in Belgium by his hard work.

At the age of 12, he scored 34 goals in 76 games, wearing the same sneakers as his father used to play.

The coaches of other teams knew that he was a good seed, but they were still curious about how he did it.

He replied that he treated every game like a final.

Playing in the park, it was the final.Playing football after school, that's also the final.

Compared with his father who was a professional player, he prefers to share his joy of scoring with his grandfather.

Grandpa couldn't come to watch the game because he was in the Congo, where Lukaku's parents came from, but he liked to chat about football with his little grandson.

Lukaku would tell his grandfather: "I scored 76 goals in the academy, we won the league and the big teams were watching me."

Grandpa will also be happy for his progress.

But Lukaku remembers that once, his grandfather said something different to him:

"Hey boy, can you help me take care of my daughter? Please."

Lukaku, who was still ignorant at the time, was very confused and didn't understand what grandpa meant at all. He replied: "Mom? We are doing well now."

He was thinking, what is grandpa talking about?

But the grandfather said: "No, promise me, take good care of my daughter for me."

Little Lukaku patted his chest on the other end of the phone and said, "Okay Grandpa, I promise you."

Five days later, my grandfather passed away, and he finally understood the meaning of that phone call.

Mourinho remembers that when talking about this incident that day, Lukaku cried, and the mother who accompanied him for the interview also cried.

Lukaku said that he very much hopes that his grandfather can live for four more years, so that he can see him join Belgium's largest club Anderlecht, witness his promise to become a professional footballer, and completely change the family's life situation.

He eventually achieved that goal, but 11 days too late.

On May 2009, 5, the final of the Champions League playoffs, Anderlecht vs. Standard Liege.

Lukaku, 16 years and 11 days old, was sent on in the 63rd minute of the game, making his first appearance for the first team.

In the first full season that followed, he scored 16 goals at the age of 20. Since then, he has entered people's vision and Mourinho's vision.

Because everyone compared him to the second Didier Drogba, the nickname of Little Warcraft gradually spread.

In 2010, Lukaku wore the jersey of his idol Didier Drogba. As a special tourist, he walked into Stamford Bridge for the first time. It was just that Mourinho had already left for Madrid from Milan at that time. People don't sign up immediately after the first interview.

But he is still very grateful to Mourinho, because of that interview, he entered the key observation list of the Chelsea scouting network, and when visiting Stamford Bridge, he also told reporters that he would definitely join this veteran Premier League team in the future .

Later, he did not break his promise. After scoring 18 goals in a single season at the age of 39, he faced invitations from many giants and officially became a member of the Blues at a price of 1600 million pounds.

But unfortunately, the young coach Villas-Boas who coached Chelsea at the time ended up having trouble protecting himself and had no time to take care of Lukaku who still needed to grow.

After a season on loan at West Brom, he returned to Chelsea and happily welcomed Mourinho, who entered the palace for the second time.

But fate played a trick on him. In the UEFA Super Cup at the beginning of the season, facing Bayern, the two sides entered a penalty shootout. In the last game, when he took the penalty kick against Neuer, he kicked out A limp, angleless ground ball was easily saved by the German goalkeeper, and Chelsea lost the championship.

Mourinho, who left Real Madrid at the time and was under tremendous pressure, rented Lukaku to Everton two days later.

Because he has no way to leave too many starting opportunities for the young Lukaku in the fiercely competitive Premier League.

Many people think that it was Mourinho's punishment for Lukaku's failure to score a penalty kick, but Lukaku knew in his heart that it was the protection of his old friend and today's coach.

But since then, doubts and ridicules have never left this dark-skinned Belgian striker.

In the Belgian national team, where Walloons and Flemish are separated from each other, have different languages, and already have serious internal fighting, Lukaku has also become a funeral object of struggle.

When the performance is good, the media will report: "Romeu Lukaku, Belgian striker".

When the performance is bad or the team loses, the headline changes to: "Romeu Lukaku, Belgian striker of Congolese descent".

At the age of 20, with his outstanding performance, Robert Martinez, who was still the head coach of Everton at the time and is now the head coach of the Belgian national team, bought out Lukaku on loan for 3500 million pounds.

In his final season at Everton, against former owners Chelsea, he dribbled through four on the left before scoring from a tight angle in the box.

After the end of that season, Chelsea intends to buy it back, and Lukaku is also willing to return to his beloved Stamford Bridge, but under balance, the Blues finally bought a cheaper Morata, and Mourinho who came to Manchester United Without hesitation, he signed the young man who had been given high hopes by him when he was 16 years old.

On the day of United's reunion, Lukaku proudly told Mourinho that after joining Everton, no one would laugh at him anymore.

When Mourinho talked about this, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

This made Chen Xiaoliang a little surprised. Mourinho, who is aloof, conceited, and has always shown me stubborn and unyielding, rarely sighs and shows the soft side in his heart.

But Chen Xiaoliang knows that the story is here, and it is entering the part that Mourinho is most worried about.

Everyone knows that in Mourinho's tactical philosophy, an iron-blooded central defender, an immortal waist, a winger who is as fast as the wind, and a bridgehead center who is like an iron tower and as strong as an ox are the same. Four essential conditions.

If these four conditions are met, he can win everything.

And the perfect template for this type of center is naturally Drogba.

In the summer after leading Manchester United to the Europa League and winning the minor treble, Mourinho signed Lukaku for a Belgian record fee of 8500 million euros, and everything seemed to be better.

Scoring goals, pushing forward, grabbing points, and even pressing in high positions, Little Warcraft once made Old Trafford fans regard it as a key figure in the revival of the Red Devils.

But the high-spirited Mourinho made a decision to make Lukaku gain weight.

And Lukaku, who is grateful and has trained hard since childhood, did not hesitate at all, and resolutely implemented Mourinho's decision.

Since then, he has sacrificed the speed he was proud of when he was young, especially his explosive power, in exchange for his weight and super upper body strength.

That season, Manchester United won the second place in the league, which was later called "the biggest achievement of his career" by Mourinho. Lukaku, who has not yet fully succeeded in gaining weight, also experienced a very fantastic World Cup and scored 2 goals won the World Cup bronze boots.

Everything seems to indicate that he is on a very correct path.

But no one thought, especially Mourinho, that the weight gained by his beloved disciple in the gym would become the source of all his pain in his subsequent career.

He gained weight, but Lukaku's playing habits from his youth have not changed.

A center forward who weighs 200 pounds frequently appears on the wing to take the ball and pass the ball, which is a bit contrary and even ridiculous.

From the second season at Manchester United, joking words such as "small flat head, beer belly, professional winger Lukaku" began to spread widely as his goals declined and Manchester United's performance deteriorated.

That mighty killing god started to "transform" into a funny role in professional football in this way.

Tie Hanhan, Lu Yuanwai, like-minded striker, give it a try...

Various nicknames and jokes followed one after another.

Many people said that he was unprofessional and that he was not in training, which led to his out of shape and weight gain.

But Lukaku never explained that Mourinho, who was caught in internal and external troubles at the time and was on the verge of dismissing get out of class, was too busy to take care of himself, nor did he think of defending his disciples.

However, Lukaku still persistently believes that Mourinho is right. After training every day, he still goes to the gym to sweat like rain, trying to maintain his muscle power after a substantial weight gain.

Speaking of this, Mourinho told Chen Xiaoliang that of all the players he has seen in his coaching career, three of them train the hardest, followed by Ronaldo, Lukaku and Chen Xiaoliang in front of him.

But unlike the other two who practiced additionally based on their own preferences and judgments, Lukaku is practicing additionally according to the coach's requirements.

This is highly related to his childhood experience. He has no doubts about those head coaches who sincerely treat him and help him change his life.

Mourinho never said that sentence, but Chen Xiaoliang could hear that the rebellious head coach was regretting his wrong decision at that time.

Lukaku is Lukaku, he is not Drogba.

After gaining weight, Lukaku lost not only speed and explosive power, but also deformed movements and ridicule from the outside world, and his knees and ankles were overwhelmed, resulting in a significant increase in injuries.

He stood up again and again, trying his best, but looking so clumsy because of his weight, time and time again amusing the Internet around the world.

But Lukaku did not give up, because he believed that Mourinho would take him back to himself.

Unfortunately, Mourinho can't wait for that day.

After a series of consecutive defeats in the league and a complete loss of control in the locker room, an official announcement from the Manchester United board of directors completely dismissed the madman, and Manchester United also ushered in a new head coach.

Solskjaer, who was a flexible forward in his career, did not treat Lukaku badly, but the two who met by chance did not have any emotional basis.

Manchester United improved in the second half of that season, but Lukaku had a bad time.

After Solskjaer reused Rashford, Greenwood and other young forwards who can run more, Lukaku seems to have become a target. Whenever the team's results are not good, he will be picked up by the fans. He came out to laugh at him, and he also hated that no one in the club came out to protect him, and no one came forward to refute the rumors of the transfer.

He seems to have returned to the time when he was checked by a group of adults when he was young, but now, he himself is like that ID card, being checked, questioned, and ridiculed at will.

Everyone knows what happened later. Inter Milan bought him with the first price in team history of 8000 million euros, and he also described Manchester United's two years as "shit".

Since then, he has been linked with Mourinho very, very little.

One is stubbornly unwilling to admit his mistakes, while the other does not want to choose to forgive easily.

But Lukaku never gave up the idea of ​​proving himself.

After helping Inter Milan regain the Serie A championship, after his own state returned to bravery again, he was not satisfied with the comfortable Serie A. He chose to return to the Premier League and Stamford Bridge to completely realize his dream where the dream started.

It's just that looking back now, it seems that Inter Milan's championship trip that year was more like a short-lived dream.

Ridicules, jokes, nicknames, more than ever, are with him.

And he, who is about to stand up, seems to have looked away.

Mourinho may never have the opportunity to sit down with him again, like when he was 16, with his mother beside him, and have a heart-to-heart chat.

But it will also enter another important age-the 60-year-old Mourinho, after Lukaku published his statement, he read it more than once in the residence and when there was no one around.

After that day, the memory of Lukaku in his heart, in addition to the contents of the heart-to-heart talk at the age of 16, there is also such a self-report:

"I want to make another phone call with Grandpa,
don't talk about the team,

Do not talk about the Premier League,

Don't talk about the Champions League,

Not talking about the World Cup,

That's not what I really want to tell.

I just want him by my side to see my life now,
I can let him know,"

'Grandpa, did you see that?
Your daughter is doing well,

We no longer live in apartments with rats,

no longer sleep on the floor,

no more milk with water,

no more electricity bills,

We're fine, really fine.

They're never going to check my ID again,

Because they all know my name. '"

At this moment, the bus stopped.

Mourinho involuntarily touched his chin with his left hand, and his story was over.

The Roma players in the car were still laughing and celebrating as they toppled Inter Milan beautifully.

They and the two people sitting at the front seemed to be in two worlds.

But compared to Mourinho, who relieved the pressure a little and got some comfort after saying this, Chen Xiaoliang always felt a little blocked and bored in his heart.

As the captain, he still got off the car second behind Mourinho, then stood by the door and gave every teammate and coach who got off the car a high-five, thanking them for their contribution to another game, whether they were or not. play.

It wasn't until the last person got off the car that he entered the hotel at the end of the line.

He is not feeling sad for Lukaku, or someone, and he knows that Mourinho is not all talking about Lukaku.

It's just that everyone has experienced choices that make them regret or even regret in the process of life, but they never have the opportunity to make up for it.

Mourinho may have hoped that Lukaku at the time could stick to his own style, so that he might be better at this time, Manchester United might not lose streak that season, and the master and apprentice would not be the same stranger.

He also blamed himself, why didn't he choose to let Lukaku be himself, but insisted on making him the second Drogba.

In the end, it was Chen Xiaoliang, Sesko, and Kewa who benefited, these young people who came later.

Mourinho will no longer let them deliberately gain weight for their own tactical preferences, but chooses to let them try their best to exert their inherent characteristics within the tactical framework.

They would often order Chen Xiaoliang and the others to stop and rest when they practiced selflessly.

The conceited madman didn't admit a single mistake, but he used actions to make up for the choices he made back then.

This night, Chen Xiaoliang thought for a long time before falling asleep, and Mourinho, who was resting alone in another room, could not fall asleep for a long time.

He didn't expect that when he was almost old enough to be the grandfather of the players under his command, and when there were fewer and fewer friends due to competition, competition, and confrontation, he would still meet a year-end friend who could reveal his heart.

The next day, the team gathered at the airport, they did not return to Rome, but flew directly to Salzburg.

There, they will play in the third round of the Champions League group stage, with Harland, Mane, Naby Keita, Upamecano, Haidara, Minano Takumi, Huang Xican, Sabitzer , Dhaka, and Cesco's Red Bull Salzburg played against each other.

　Thanks to the executive director of the club [Xiaoxiao, I was wrong] for the 2 monthly tickets!
　　Thanks to the executive director of the club [still the original you] for the 2 monthly tickets!
　　Thanks to the senior director of the club [tong20081001] for the 4 monthly tickets!
　　Thanks to the senior director of the club [Helwig] for the monthly ticket!

　　Thanks to the senior director of the club [Yuiiiiiiiii] for the monthly pass!

　　Thanks to the senior director of the club [book friend 20230103222152254] for the monthly pass!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)