Chapter 35

After today's training was over, Endritt took his bag and went out to the parking lot, but he didn't see the coach's car as usual. He was wondering when he saw another familiar car drive up to him, the window rolled down, and Mendes stuck his head out.

"Your coach has something to do. I'll take you home today."

Endrit raised his eyebrows slightly, but said nothing. He opened the car door and sat directly on the passenger seat. He was fastening his seat belt when Mendes spoke again.

"How was it, did you have a good chat with your teammates today?"

Endrit wanted to laugh, so he turned his head and asked deliberately, "Why do you want to have a good chat with your teammates?"

"Your teammates should be able to understand you after what Jose said..." Mendes started to explain subconsciously, but realized halfway through his words: Ritter is not Ronaldinho, and he needs to break some things down and explain them.

"Tell the coach thank you for me." Mendes stopped talking, and Endrit knew he knew it, so he smiled and said, "Of course, thank you too. Thank you for thinking about me and saying this."

Mendes turned his head and coughed lightly. "It's not all for your sake. If there is a player who really comes to Jose and says that he also wants to have the privileges you have now, then Jose will teach him well. But if he doesn't have the talent like you, then we can only say sorry, right?"

"That's right," Endrit nodded in agreement, "I also hope that there can be more players like me in the team, and it would be best if all the defenders could train as hard as I do."

In this way, during official games, his four bodyguards, no, four defenders will be able to block the ball in front of the goal, and the frequency of him being hit by the ball will definitely drop significantly.

Mendes also nodded subconsciously: It would be great if the players he signed now were as worry-free as Ritter.

…

On the morning of August 3, Mourinho drove into the parking lot. After getting out of the car, Endrit went directly to the locker room to change his jersey and start today's training, while Mourinho returned to the office to prepare for the new season's games.

However, after working for a while, the assistant came knocking on the door and said that Cech's agent was here and wanted to talk to him.

Mourinho frowned, "Cech's agent?"

"Yes, he's outside now. Do you want him to come in?"

"Come in," Mourinho rubbed his brow with his hand, "prepare two cups of coffee."

"Yes, sir."

The coffee brewed by the assistant tasted good, but Cech's agent Victor Karal had no intention of tasting it. As soon as he sat on the sofa in Mourinho's office, he asked directly: "Don't you want Cech to play this season?"

Mourinho was stunned for a moment, but he did not rush to explain and asked, "Why do you think so?"

"Aren't you going to use Endrit this season?" After asking the first question, Victor finally calmed down a little, "Jose, although Cech may not be able to attend some games this season due to injuries, this is definitely not a reason for you to give the starting position to a newcomer now!"

"Calm down, Victor." Mourinho immediately explained the privilege he had mentioned before. "Do you believe that a 17-year-old boy can keep a clean sheet in every game? This is impossible, isn't it?

"I have to admit that Endrit is the future of the team, and I am indeed trying my best to train him. But he is the future, the future, and Cech is the present of the team. Our team cannot do without Cech! And it is because of Cech in the team that I dare to train a new goalkeeper like this!"

Victor closed his eyes and said, "Let's list him during the winter transfer window this year. You know, Cech has always wanted to go to Arsenal..."

Before Cech went to France from the Czech Republic to play football, he actually wanted to come to the UK to play football first, but because he failed to apply for the noble English work permit, he could only go to Rennes, France first.

For Cech, no matter where he plays, what he desires most is to lift the championship trophy. He wanted to go to Arsenal only because Arsenal had Wenger, a team with great hope of becoming a champion.

"No, that's impossible!" Mourinho immediately rejected the proposal. Even if he wanted to list the player, Mourinho could not accept selling Cech to his team's competitor. "Victor, Chelsea can't live without Cech!"

"By the time of the winter window, that Endrit would have grown up, wouldn't he?"

"How could he grow so fast? Victor, believe me, with the two of them this season, Chelsea will win more honors this season." Mourinho always felt as if he had missed something. "With Endrit here this year, Cech can have more time to recover from his injury, which is very beneficial for him to extend his career, isn't it?

"I promise you, if Cech is in good shape, he will definitely play in important games. I will not abandon the victory of the game in order to train Endrit!"

Victor was silent for a few seconds, "But Cech said that Endrit will grow up quickly."

Mourinho was also silent for a few seconds, "What did you say?"

Victor briefly summarized what Cech described to him yesterday, what happened in the locker room after Mourinho left yesterday.

Mourinho was silent for a longer time before saying: "You know, these players, especially young people like Endrit, are always more passionate. At this time, we, as elders, have to bear more responsibility and give them more time to grow."

…

On the pitch

Today, Endrit sneezed several times in a row during ball-saving training, and he wondered if someone was really talking about him.

"Ritter, Mr. Mourinho wants you to go to his office."

"Hmm?" Endrit turned his head and looked at his assistant while holding the football. "Now?"

"Of course not," the assistant shook his head gently, "Go there after you finish your morning training. Don't forget."

"Okay," Endrit made an OK gesture, "I won't forget it, don't worry."

No wonder I sneezed a few times just now. It turned out that Mourinho was talking about me. I don’t know what it is about. Is it something about training?

The morning passed in a flash. Endrit returned to the locker room to change his jersey, walked out of the locker room in his regular clothes and walked towards the coach's office. On the way, he met Shevchenko, who was standing against the wall because he had not gone to eat.

He smiled and nodded at the other person and was about to pass by him when he was grabbed by the latter.

Endrit stopped and looked back at Shevchenko, "What's wrong, Sheva? Is there anything I can help you with?"

Shevchenko was stunned for a moment by Endrit's extremely natural address, "Ah, no, I'm not asking for help, I just want to ask you a question."

"Okay," Endrit stretched out his hand and pulled Shevchenko up, "Why are you standing here waiting? Next time if you have any questions just ask directly. Look how dirty this wall is."

"No, this wall is quite clean... No," Shevchenko realized something was wrong halfway through his sentence, and asked helplessly, "I just want to ask you, is the promise the coach made yesterday true?"

"It's true," Endrrate nodded, "I'm on my way to the coach's office, wanna join me?"

"No, no." Shevchenko shook his head quickly and looked up at Endrit who was smiling. "Can you, can you help me ask?"

Endrit blinked, then walked up and put his arm around Shevchenko's shoulders. "What are you thinking? The coach doesn't hate you. He actually likes you."

Shevchenko didn't believe it, but since Endrit said so, he could only force a smile.

"Then I'll see if I can help you ask," Endrit said without further ado, and patted Shevchenko on the shoulder, "But can you train with me tomorrow? We can practice the cooperation between the goalkeeper and the striker."

Shevchenko nodded slightly.

"It's settled then," Endrit let go of his hand, "You go eat, I'll go to the coach first."

"Bye, Sheva!"

Endrit waved to Shevchenko, and Shevchenko also waved back with a smile. After Endrit's back disappeared around the corner, Shevchenko leaned against the wall again, lowered his head, and rubbed his face hard with his hands.

He thought it would be difficult to speak. But...Endrit doesn't look as scary as he did yesterday? Is it because we didn’t finish training yesterday but have finished training today?

…

Boom boom boom

"Come in."

Endrit pushed open the door and walked straight to Mourinho's desk, "Coach, here I come."

Mourinho looked up at Endrit and said, "Yesterday you..."

"Me yesterday?" Endrit blinked. "Coach, what happened to me yesterday? Which training did I not complete? Do you want to make up for it now?"

"Did you really mean what you said yesterday after I left the locker room?"

What did you say yesterday? Which sentence? He said quite a few words yesterday.

Endrit was about to ask Mourinho what he said, but Mourinho just said forget it.

"Forget it, I'll give you half a day off, go out and relax."

"ah?"

Give him a break? Did the sun rise from the west this morning?

"What? You've been practicing for such a long time without a break. This is a good opportunity to go out for a walk. You can go anywhere, just stop practicing and relax."

Although continuous training is good, people still need to take a break, otherwise their thoughts may become extreme - Ritt didn't have this idea before, I must have put too much pressure on him recently.

"Didn't I tell you before? Even if you don't shut out your opponent or lose the game, it doesn't matter. No one can win all the time. After you lose, just continue to train hard. I will arrange a training match later. If you perform well in the training match, I will let you continue to play in the game, so you don't have to worry about those things, understand?"

Endrit opened his mouth, wanting to utter another word that represented his extreme surprise: What?

"Go eat now, don't just stand there like an idiot."

Endrit subconsciously said "oh", and just as he turned around, he remembered Shevchenko's incident, so he quickly turned back and said: "By the way, coach, do you hate Shevchenko? If you don't like him, then I won't talk to him."

Mourinho touched his nose and asked, "What are you talking about?"

"Whoever the coach doesn't like, I don't like."

Mourinho pressed his temple with a headache, "No, I don't hate him. Ritter, you are teammates, don't, no, you can't say this in front of your teammates in the future, understand?"

"Oh," Endrite nodded, "Can I practice with him tomorrow?"

"Can."

"The coach..."

"Are you ready to go eat, Ritter?"

Endrit covered his mouth with his hands, nodded vigorously, then turned and left the office. Of course, he remembered to close the office door gently from the outside.

…

In the afternoon, Endrit, who was lying on the sofa in a daze, received a call from Xiao Xiao Luo, who excitedly asked him to read some newspapers immediately.

"Can't you just tell me directly?" Endrit, who didn't want to move at all, changed his hand to hold the phone, "What did the newspaper say?"

"You know David Seaman, right? Your England goalkeeper, who retired a few years ago. Reporters went to interview him, and he said that he and his wife like you very much, and he thinks you are the goalkeeper!"

Endrit sat up from the sofa and turned on the speakerphone. "No way, there's no need for him to praise me like that. The media must have exaggerated it."

"No! The newspaper said that they conducted the interview with a recorder, so it must be true! You are the goalkeeper! Be more confident, Ritter! You are the best goalkeeper I have ever seen!"

"Do you dare to say these words to Van der Sar's face?"

Then there was a cough from the other end of the phone, and Endrit laughed helplessly, "Okay, did you hear some false news from Mendes?"

While the two were talking on the phone, David Seaman, who had bought several newspapers to read the content of the interview, was so angry that his face turned red.

"I didn't say that at all!" David Seaman complained to his wife in grievance, "They are just writing nonsense, writing nonsense, writing nonsense!"

"This is really too much! I see they are holding recorders!"

The wife looked at David's aggrieved face and silently suppressed what she wanted to say: No way, no way, there can't be anyone who doesn't know that the reason they hold a recorder is so that when they edit the news, others will know that they have reasons and evidence, right?