Chapter 33
Fortunately, after waiting for more than ten seconds, Mourinho sent the first ball to Zhou Liran.
Zhou Liran stretched out his hand and easily slapped the football away with his palm. He felt happy, not because he easily blocked the ball, but because although the coach was angry, he still did not make things difficult for him right away. He was preparing to increase the difficulty for him little by little!
After ten goals, Zhou Liran's expression was still very indifferent, but he was very confused in his heart: Why hasn't the coach given him any more difficulty? Even if I warm up first to get myself back into shape, it shouldn't take so long, right? Judging from how angry the coach was just now, this shouldn't be the case...
It should be soon, maybe it's this ball. The angle of this ball is very tricky - hiss, the power of this ball is a little weak. Although I pounced from the side, I only used a little force to hit the ball out, which does not increase the difficulty.
That is now? Increase the difficulty... huh? Is this the end? He didn't even break a sweat.
Mourinho stopped panting, looked up at Zhou Liran, and said angrily: "Can't you do this? If not, can't you just throw the ball away? Then why don't you do this in the game? Huh?"
Zhou Liran blinked, feeling as if he understood something. He glanced at Mourinho and realized that this was definitely not the time to worry about whether the coach was capable or not.
Zhou Liran walked quickly to Mourinho, reached out and held Mourinho, complaining: "Coach, it's hard to practice with just the two of us. Without a caddy to help us set the ball, we can't increase our speed! It's a waste of time to set the ball by ourselves!"
Hearing Mourinho's breathing gradually calm down, Zhou Liran calmly let go of his hand and continued, "Although everyone usually complains about the useless football serving machine, I think the team can buy it and put it aside. If we encounter a situation like today when everyone is gone and there is no caddy to help with the ball placement, we can use this serving machine to ensure the frequency of serving, so as to improve my efficiency in catching the ball. What do you think, coach?"
Mourinho rolled his eyes at Zhou Liran and said unhappily, "The team has so many professional sparring partners, why do they need such useless machines?"
When Zhou Liran heard Mourinho say this, he knew that he had just successfully resolved an invisible incident that might cause Mourinho to lose face - although he was not sure whether Mourinho was a person who cared about face, and whether he would have some negative feelings towards him, the culprit who caused him to lose face, because of losing face. He was not sure.
Because he was unsure, Zhou Liran immediately chose to divert the conflicting point of the matter and told Mourinho not to think about why all the footballs he had just shot were easily blocked by him - anyway, no matter whether Mourinho was that kind of person or not, it would definitely be right to eliminate the situation that might affect their relationship in advance.
Thinking of this, Zhou Liran added fuel to the fire, "But if we encounter a situation like today again, we don't need to set the ball ourselves..."
Mourinho sighed, reached out and patted Zhou Liran on the shoulder, "I was too impatient, you should practice more well tomorrow."
"But I still want to continue practicing today..."
"What are you still practicing today? Why are you still practicing when everyone else has left? Now that you know you can practice, what were you doing before?" Mourinho glared at Zhou Liran. "Didn't you swear to me two months ago that you would definitely change? Why are you like this when you play today? Huh?"
Zhou Liran lowered his head silently and accepted the scolding, thinking that he had to find a reason for his habit of hugging the football whenever he chose to dive for it.
If Mourinho knew about the existence of the system, this problem would be very easy to solve: these lovely and lively football ladies have already established a romantic relationship with me and are the most precious girlfriends in my life. Naturally, I have to hold them tightly. Otherwise, if I make these lovely football ladies sad, wouldn’t I become the number one scumbag in the world?
Don't tell me the reason. It sounds plausible, but can I explain it? No way! There is no way I could explain this reason at all!
What should I do then? To be honest, are you afraid of pain? I can say this, but... I still need to be skillful in speaking, otherwise I might become a weak man who is afraid of pain.
But what was he going to say? They said he had disappointed Mourinho, that in just two months he had not grown to the point where he could hold the football with ease, and that if he wanted to avoid being hit in the face like he did today, he could only show everyone that other parts of his body also had a will of steel?
"Coach," Zhou Liran paused, raised his head and quickly glanced at Mourinho, then quickly lowered his head, "Because, because being hit in the face by a football hurts too much."
No, he couldn't say that. He is not an adult, he is still a child, and it is understandable that children are afraid of pain.
"Although I have been lucky enough not to get injured, as if I really have an iron face, it really hurts every time the football hits my face. It hurts so much that... that's why I thought if I could hold the football every time, I wouldn't be hurt. I'm sorry, coach, I disappoint you."
Zhou Liran lowered his head and his voice gradually became inaudible, but Mourinho still heard Zhou Liran's last apology.
God bless you, Mourinho was so shocked that he didn't know what to say. If Zhou Liran was just his player, he would not hesitate at this time and would definitely say directly: You really disappoint me. Starting tomorrow, you have to train well and get rid of this bad habit as soon as possible.
But Zhou Liran had lived next door to his house for almost two months. At first, he drove him to Chelsea in the morning. Later, when Zhou Liran went to the training camp by himself, he would be called by Maltide for dinner when he came back in the evening. He saw with his own eyes that Zhou Liran was making progress every day - this was also why he was so angry before. He felt that Zhou Liran should not keep this bad habit under such training.
But afraid of pain... Mourinho didn't know how to deal with it, but he couldn't help but speak now, "You...why didn't you tell me earlier, you should have told me about this kind of thing a long time ago."
"I told you that." Zhou Liran lowered his head and said helplessly, "The team doctor and the others knew about it before, but it was mainly my own fault. At first, I thought it was okay if it hurt, as long as I could save the ball. I didn't want to grimac and suck in air because of the pain, which would ruin my good image, so I kept a straight face. In the end, maybe because I never said it hurt, everyone gradually forgot about the pain and only remembered that I was some iron-faced superman."
To be honest, if he got hit in the face by a football but didn't get hurt or feel any pain, then Zhou Liran might be able to accept this nickname calmly. After all, this title is completely true!
Oh, by the way, it seems that after the Iron-Man, he never said the word of pain to anyone again.
So embarrassing! Sure enough, his previous efforts to help cover up the matter were correct. Judging from his own experience, he expected that Mourinho must be the same as him and must be a little bit concerned about his reputation. Even if he might not say it or show it, he must care a little in his heart.
"By the way, coach," Zhou Liran looked up at Mourinho, his chin slightly raised, obviously a little proud, "The number of times I've been hit in the face in the past two months has decreased a lot compared to two months ago. I have made progress, but it may be a little small, so this bad habit has remained. But don't worry, coach, I won't be embarrassed in the official game, I know that the team's victory is the most important!"
Mourinho stood there for a long time without saying a word. He touched Zhou Liran's head in silence and sighed softly. After a long time, he slowly said in a tone as if he had made up his mind: "Let's go home first."
There is nothing wrong with what he said. When Mourinho asked him to stay and practice more, Zhou Liran had already guessed that he would have to take another ride back home today.
It was not surprising to be driven home by Mourinho for dinner, because in the previous two months, he would come over from time to time for dinner. Maltide welcomed Zhou Liran, who was good-looking, well-spoken, and a goalkeeper that her husband valued very much.
However, when Zhou Liran got up to leave after dinner, Maltide asked Zhou Liran to stay overnight - this was a bit surprising.
This was a situation that had never happened before. Zhou Liran subconsciously glanced at Mourinho next to him, but the latter had a calm expression and even looked back at me: Why are you looking at me?
"My house is next door, just two steps away. Don't worry, nothing will happen." Zhou Liran rejected Maltide's kindness. "Besides, I'm used to my bed. I have to continue training tomorrow. If I don't get enough rest, I'm doomed, right?"
"Then why don't you come over for dinner tomorrow morning? Is that okay? Then you two can go together as master and disciple."
"ah?"
Master and disciple? What master and apprentice? When did this happen? How come he doesn't know?
Although those unscrupulous media outside had already touted him as "Mourinho's direct disciple" just because Mourinho drove him around for a few days, the two parties involved actually didn't take this matter to heart, because fake is fake, and Mourinho really took Zhou Liran to Chelsea. As for occasionally coming to Mourinho's house for a meal, it was entirely because of the gift Zhou Liran had given him before, and because he bought some gifts from time to time afterwards.
Mourinho couldn't refuse because Zhou Liran really bought one for his mother and also bought one for Maltide. It's not something expensive, just some novelty gadgets. If Liz gets tired of it or doesn't like it anymore, it becomes Holt's new toy.
Maltide really liked the junior Zhou Liran, but she had never said such words, so it was obvious that Zhou Liran silently turned his head and looked at Mourinho.
"Go back to sleep," Mourinho looked up at Zhou Liran calmly, "You'll have a lot to do tomorrow."
Didn't deny it, but didn't admit it directly either. Tsk... damn adults~
Although he was complaining in his heart, Zhou Liran immediately acted very encouraged. When he was lying on the sofa after taking a shower in the evening, the corners of his mouth actually rose uncontrollably.
After all, after so many years of reincarnation, he seemed to have finally seen an extremely bright dawn in his somewhat gloomy life. Mourinho is a very particular person. He has acknowledged him as his apprentice. So no matter how much he grows in the future, he will always have games to play with Mourinho. He no longer has to worry about his future, as he now has someone he can rely on.
"Endrit Carter." Zhou Liran stared at the ceiling and whispered his current name.
People who are close to him always call him Ritter, people who are not familiar with him call him Endrite, and no one calls him Zhou Liran. However, in his heart, Zhou Liran does not really think of himself as Endrite Carter. How can it be so easy to forget a life of more than seventy years? Those memories that he deliberately forgot were not really forgotten, but because he did not have that much time to recall the past.
But now, he seemed to really begin to acknowledge Endrite Carter and really begin to accept this new self from the bottom of his heart.
[Host, would the new you want to be bound to a human love interest? If you bind it now, 33 can be given to the host for free...】
Zhou Liran covered his eyes with his hands and sighed helplessly: This damn broken system, how could it ruin the atmosphere like this?
"I won't, just give up and shut up."
"If you suddenly ask again in the future, I will assume that you want to give me a compensation reward!"
…………
Zhou Liran had a dreamless night and was in a good mood when he woke up. He had a faint smile on his face when he came to the club. However, after arriving at the team, Zhou Liran subconsciously put away his smile.
Stay calm, he needs to continue to stay calm!
The day after officially becoming Mourinho's apprentice, Zhou Liran stood in front of everyone and was introduced to all Chelsea players by Mourinho.
"Endrit Carter, he will play football with you from now on."
After saying this, Mourinho stood aside with his arms folded, indicating that Zhou Liran could introduce himself to Chelsea's players.
"Endrit Carter," Zhou Liran's self-introduction was even briefer than Mourinho's. "Nice to meet you all."
This process reminded Zhou Liran of when he transferred to another school in the third year of junior high school, his homeroom teacher asked him to stand up and introduce himself. It seems familiar, but he is still different from before: he used to rely on his grades, but now he relies on football.
Ashley stood below and waved vigorously at Zhou Liran. Zhou Liran looked over and nodded with a smile.
"Last season's results were not very ideal, we even lost the Premier League title. This season, the first thing we have to do is to take back the Premier League title that belongs to us."
Mourinho did not talk about the Champions League, because there are still at least two months before the start of the Champions League. The most important thing right now is the upcoming Premier League. These players have had a long vacation and now they have just returned and need to practice hard to get their minds focused.
After saying this, Mourinho directly announced that the training would start now. Ashley was just about to take Zhou Liran with the team to train as an old man, when Zhou Liran was called over by Mourinho.
Then Chelsea’s players discovered that Zhou Liran didn’t need to train with the team first, he was training alone! That would be fine, after all, each of them has his own special training, but why is coach Mourinho staring at him and watching him train?
Isn’t the coach usually very busy? Is it basically the assistant coach who is in charge of the training? Why is it that when it comes to Zhou Liran, the coach is watching Zhou Liran during his training?
"Ashley, didn't you say that the coach kept Endrit to train yesterday?" Glenn, the defender standing next to Ashley, couldn't help but ask, "Why is he being watched again today? Wasn't he doing well yesterday?"
"Hmm..." Ashley didn't know the reason, but his teammates asked him so. As a direct player of Mourinho in the team, Ashley naturally had to give a reason. "Maybe it's because the coach has high expectations for him? Although his performance is already very good in our opinion, it may not be enough in the coach's opinion?"
"I see..." Glenn nodded thoughtfully, "The coach thinks highly of him."
Glen Johnson, whose jersey number is 2, is a player from West Ham United's youth training system. He was the first player signed by Abramovich after he took over the Blues. He often started before Mourinho came, but after Mourinho came to the Blues, he failed to get a stable starting position like before.
This is not because Mourinho is excluding the players signed before him, but because Mourinho pays great attention to the defense. If Glenn performs poorly on the field or makes defensive mistakes, there is no doubt that Mourinho will not use him in the next few games.
Glen admitted that Mourinho was a good coach who could lead the team to achieve results, but in Glen's heart, Mourinho was a little too inhumane and his requirements on them were a little too harsh.
However, because Mourinho has equally strict requirements for every player, they have no way to go to Porto, where Mourinho previously coached, to verify, so they can't see any difference.
But now Zhou Liran has joined the team. As soon as Mourinho sees this attitude, he knows that Zhou Liran is not the legendary disciple. Zhou Liran is now Mourinho's real disciple.
Not to mention Glenn, most Chelsea players wanted to see how Mourinho trained his disciples. The mood of a small number of players who often do not get a starting position in Chelsea is even more complicated. They want to watch and join in the fun, but they can't help but feel jealous.
Zhou Liran, who was being lemoned, was a little dazed by the football.
He was a little worried that after what he said yesterday, Mourinho would be cautious during training today because of what he said about his face hurting. However, Mourinho stood on the sidelines and asked the professional assistant coach to make it more difficult for Zhou Liran. In other words, the football that failed to hit Zhou Liran's face yesterday was kicked to Zhou Liran's face by the assistant coach.
"When there are only three to four seconds between each ball, if you try to save the ball, you'll get hit in the face," Mourinho stood beside Zhou Liran with his arms folded, "but I have a question."
"Coach, you say."
Mourinho frowned and stared at Zhou Liran's face. "How did you train before? Why did you train your brain to be more flexible than your hands? I just realized that your first reaction when you saw the football flying towards you was to shake your head. You only chose to raise your arms to save the ball when the football was in front of you!
"If your first reaction is to swing your arms, then this time can be shortened even further. In official matches, most players' reaction time to a shot is not that short, so you have every chance of not letting the ball hit your face!"
"My first reaction after seeing the football was to shake my head?" Zhou Liran was also surprised. "Is that so? I don't know. Coach, how can we change this situation?"
Mourinho pursed his lips. "Since you don't know, then your problem should be here. Let me ask your former coach for your previous training video, and then you can start with the cooperation training with your teammates. I have already told assistant coach Alec the specific training content, you can go to him later."
Zhou Liran nodded slightly, searching for Alec's figure on the court, when he saw Coach Mourinho, who had just turned away, turned back and took out a candy from his pocket.
"The training over there hasn't finished yet, eat some candy and wait for them."
"coach……"
"You can't stop training. Get stronger sooner rather than later so you don't have to be hit by a football."
Mourinho came over, took a candy and left in a hurry. Zhou Liran held the glove on his right hand in his left hand, and held a candy in his right hand.
After finding a trash can on the sidelines, Zhou Liran tore open the package with his teeth and then squeezed the candy into his mouth with his right hand.
The packaging on the candy seemed to be in Portuguese, so Zhou Liran didn't know what the candy tasted like. He had guessed that it might be fruity, but after putting the candy in his mouth, Zhou Liran discovered that it was actually a milk candy.
Toffee, hmm...it's quite sweet.
…………
Zhou Liran put on his gloves again after eating the candy, and found Alec to tell him that coach Mourinho wanted him to train with his teammates in the next period of time.
Alec agreed with a smile, and after Chelsea's group training was over, he called over the four defenders named by Mourinho.
No. 3 Ashley, No. 20 Paul, No. 6 Carvalho and No. 22 Ben Haim.
"The next cooperation training is like this..."
After Alec finished speaking, the staff on the side began to make preparations. The five people stood together. Zhou Liran had a better relationship with Ashley. Paul played football with Zhou Liran yesterday. Although he had no likes or dislikes towards Zhou Liran, he had to admit that there was something special about Zhou Liran.
And the coach specifically asked the four of them to come here - to be honest, Paul now has some secret little expectations in his heart.
He is Portuguese. After being brought to Chelsea by Mourinho, his career has been going downhill. It only took him one season to go from being a main player at the beginning to being on the bench. However, Paul never gave up and continued to train hard to improve himself, from right back to left back and even center back - in short, Paul is now the team's first choice as a substitute defender.
But he really wanted to return to the position of a main player, so when he was called and found out that the remaining three people were Ashley, Carvalho and Ben Haim, he was very excited.
Carvalho, Mourinho's die-hard supporter, was brought to Chelsea from Porto by Mourinho and broke Chelsea's defender transfer fee record that year.
Ben Haim, an Israeli international, moved to Chelsea as a free agent last month and was the defender Mourinho wanted to sign last season.
However, compared to Ashley's enthusiastic greeting, Paul was reserved. The remaining two, Carvalho and Ben Haim, although they did not show any expression, they did look at Zhou Liran without any expression, and then silently withdrew their gaze: It's great that he is handsome, haha.
Ashley coughed lightly to break the strange silence between the few people. "Um, Ritter, I just saw you standing on the sidelines eating candy. Are you having low blood sugar?"
"The coach gave it to me," Zhou Liran explained succinctly, "He said your training hasn't finished yet, so he asked me to eat some candy and wait for you."
Ashley blinked and suddenly didn't want to continue talking.
Paul, Carvalho and Ben Haim on the side also cast strange looks at Zhou Liran.
Zhou Liran held back his smile and looked up at the staff who were busy on the sidelines.
It takes skills to build good relationships with your future teammates. You have to make some of your own things known to them when they are not familiar with each other yet. This way, when the relationship gets better in the future, they won't care about these special things because they know you were like that from the beginning.
But if you lower yourself and make friends with them right from the start, then when you get to know them better you will only get a group of friends who treat them as your uncles. Even if you want to stand up again, if someone is used to being your boss, he will no longer be your friend, and will even turn around and say that you are not a good person: Tsk tsk tsk tsk, I knew he was not a good person a long time ago, look at him now, does he really think we are willing to be friends with him?
These are all the experiences he gained in his previous life. If you force yourself to accommodate your so-called friends from the beginning, you will have to accommodate them in the future, or even more. Not only will the other party not be grateful, they may even become more demanding.
This is not making friends, this is finding a father for yourself.
Anyway, when he broke up with a group of friends in his previous life, he said bluntly: You always think you are my father, but my father died a long time ago, how come you are still alive?
Oh, of course, he paid a price for it in the end. For example, when he was lying on the hospital bed, the people who came to see him at the last moment were volunteers from a body donation organization.
Fortunately, before the atmosphere among them became more awkward, the preparations before training were finally completed. Zhou Liran stood in the middle of the goal, and Ashley, Paul, Carvalho and Ben Haim lined up in front of the small penalty area in turn.
As Alec blew a whistle, the four staff members standing outside the penalty area facing the four defenders kicked the football at the four defenders respectively, and they easily saved the football one after another.
When the whistle sounded again, four footballs were kicked towards the center of the goal. The four defenders needed to save the football before it entered the goal. If they failed to save the football in time, Zhou Liran would save the football out of the goal, and the defender who failed to block the football would grab the football as soon as possible.
The biggest purpose of this whole set of training is to make Zhou Liran and the four defenders familiar with each other, to make the defenders familiar with Zhou Liran's saving habits, and to enable the defenders to receive the football in time to prevent the opposing players from making supplementary shots.
Mourinho's goal is definitely for Zhou Liran's growth, but he also cannot neglect the defenders, so there is the current coordination training.
Perhaps in order to show themselves in front of Zhou Liran, Ashley and his teammates played at the same level as in official competitions, and in the first ten rounds they did not let Zhou Liran touch the ball.
However, as the opponent's shots became faster, by the eleventh round, Paul failed to successfully block the ball again. Zhou Liran kept his eyes on all sides, and when he discovered that Paul had missed the ball, he immediately sped up his jog and stretched out his hand to push the ball towards Paul.
Paul calmly took the ball off his foot and kicked it out of the penalty area - only when it is kicked out of the penalty area can it be considered a successful clearance. In a formal game, if the ball fails to be kicked out of the penalty area, the opposing player may be able to make a successful follow-up shot.
Paul's miss seemed to be the clarion call for Zhou Liran to start touching the football. After this, as the staff's shooting frequency increased and their physical strength decreased over time, the four defenders missed the ball more and more often.
At the beginning, Zhou Liran could still tell which defender missed the ball and then hit the ball towards that person. But later on, several footballs flew towards him at the same time. Zhou Liran flew to save the balls and was hit in the face by the balls. How could he tell who missed the ball? Kicking the balls out of the goal was the limit of what he could do.
The four defenders were in mixed feelings. After missing the ball at the beginning, they successfully blocked the ball shot by Zhou Liran, which also prevented the opponent's follow-up shot, so it couldn't be considered a mistake. But as time went on, they started to leak the ball on both sides.
When the staff in front of them kicked the ball, they failed to prevent it from leaking. When Zhou Liran shot the ball from behind them, they didn't have time to remove the ball and missed it...
If there were only one defender instead of four, maybe they wouldn't have missed both sides, because if they lost one, they would definitely focus on that one. But there were four people and four balls coming from the front and back at the same time, and they all became irregular balls coming from various angles. The four people did not collide directly on the court because of their tacit cooperation.
The four men did not collide with each other, but the two close defenders collided with each other quite a few times because of the same ball.
Zhou Liran was hit in the face by the football in front of the goal, and the four people in front of him were also directly hit by the football flying in the air from time to time.
An hour passed and the four defenders were panting and wanted to end the training. But when they turned around, they saw Zhou Liran, whose body was covered with grass clippings but still full of energy as if he could go on for a few more hours. They gritted their teeth and continued to persevere in the afternoon.
Two hours passed. Even if they gritted their teeth and encouraged themselves, even if they told themselves in their minds "I can still do it", their bodies had already reached their limits. After hearing Alec's whistle to end the training, the four defenders, whose bodies were already shaking, all lay on their backs on the grass.
His mind was empty and his eyes were dull.
Zhou Liran tiptoed past the four people, took off his gloves and walked to Alec to ask, "Sir, do I have any other training in the morning?"
The caddy who was picking up the ball nearby couldn't help but look up at Zhou Liran, then turned his head to look at the four defenders lying over there, the surprise in his eyes was about to overflow: Can you still do it? Do you still want to continue training? !
The caddy was surprised, but Alec had heard Mourinho say this before, so he didn't lose his composure at this time. He took out the schedule, took a look at it, and said, "Take a ten-minute break, drink some water and eat something, and then practice catching the ball for another hour."
After explaining things to Zhou Liran, Alec brought a few staff members to the four people and asked them to help them stand up and walk slowly.
When the four of them were sitting aside drinking water and taking a rest, they saw Zhou Liran, who had just been resting, standing on the court again to practice blocking the ball.
Ashley held the water bottle and stared at Zhou Liran for a while, then sighed, "I now understand why the coach only gave him candy."
Kava hummed inaudibly.
Ashley turned to look at him, and Carvalho looked up and rolled his eyes at him, "What? I can't express my opinion?"
"Who knew that the coach would be so angry after valuing him?"
Carvalho was too lazy to talk to this person, so he changed his posture and continued to watch Zhou Liran train.
Ben Haim sighed softly beside him, "Are all your Chelsea players so good? Can I still play in the starting lineup?"
"No, no, no," Paul quickly denied, "Please don't compare us with him. If I were like him, would I still be a substitute now?"
Ben Haim's eyes widened even more, "You are the substitute?"
Paul: …
Although I know what this means is that Paul is actually quite awesome, but... why can't he be happy at all?
In the afternoon, Alec again selected four new guards to do cooperation training with Zhou Liran. Because of what happened to the four people in the morning, the four new guards gritted their teeth and said that they would definitely not lose to the four people in the morning.
They did not squander their energy like the four people in the morning did, but proceeded step by step and allocated their energy very reasonably, and then they persisted half an hour longer than the four people in the morning.
The four men lying on the grass thought they had won, but ten minutes later when they saw some guy starting his diving drill again, they felt like they had lost again.
"Is this kid so physically fit?"
"I asked someone I know in the youth training camp. He has always had good physical strength and has been training like this for the past six months. Wasn't he also training when we were on vacation before? So..."
"Damn it, I shouldn't have played all the time during my holidays!"
On the first day of officially joining Chelsea and becoming a member of Chelsea, Zhou Liran didn't get to know anyone else, but the entire club knew him.
…………
The next day, Zhou Liran received a strawberry-flavored candy after finishing a ball-catching training.
In the afternoon, before he had time to go to training, he was called to Mourinho's office.
"Yesterday I watched the video of your previous and current games, and I found that you started saving shots like this in the last six months."
After drinking a cup of black tea in Mourinho's office, Zhou Liran quietly sat next to Mourinho and stared at the computer in front of him.
"In last year's game, what was your save order? You would stretch out your arms before you saw the ball, and then reach out to block it after you saw it. But six months ago, you would look at the ball first, and then you would touch the ball after it was in front of you."
Mourinho was actually a little confused, because logically doing so would reduce the efficiency of saving shots, but starting half a year ago, Zhou Liran gradually grew into a goalkeeper who often kept opponents scoreless.
"This is very strange. Before, you were not sure where the ball would land, so you prepared in advance. But now you save the ball after you are sure of where the ball will land. Although your performance has indeed improved, I can't understand why your saving habits that have lasted for several years have changed?
"In theory, if you don't change your save order after you can tell where the ball is going to land, your results should be better now."
Zhou Liran was stunned when Mourinho was halfway through speaking, and after he finished speaking, he covered his face in annoyance.
Mourinho didn't know why this change happened, but Zhou Liran knew it very well: the reason why he could judge the landing point of the football so accurately was because of being hit in the face. In the beginning, he was hit so hard that his face was grimacing and he had no image at all. In order to avoid being hit, he would stare at the football when he saved the ball.
The habits that he had developed for nearly four years were completely changed in less than half a year, and he didn't even notice it. A football hits your face, it's so scary.
"It seems you know the reason?" Mourinho was relieved. He didn't ask the reason. He just patted Zhou Liran's head and said, "I'll give you a holiday this afternoon. Go back and think about how to change it. I'll give you two months at most. Can you do it?"
Zhou Liran nodded vigorously.
"Okay, sit down and rest for a while." Mourinho asked Zhou Liran to pour him some water. "I'll call Mendes and ask him to take you back to rest."
"By the way, let me tell you in advance that tomorrow's game is very important to you."
Is tomorrow's game important for him? Aren’t we going to play against Suwon Samsung from South Korea tomorrow? Isn't Suwon Samsung's team much stronger than Mexico's America?
Zhou Liran’s doubts were answered when he saw the roster of players for today the next day.
Chelsea starting strikers: Sinclair, Shevchenko
Starting midfield: Michael, Mikel, Ballack, Sedwell
Starting defense: Paul, Hutchison, Alis, Ben Haim
This list may seem ordinary, but if you take a closer look, you will find that most of the players here are substitutes!
In the last game, Shevchenko saw Mourinho use Lampard in the first friendly match of the club, and he thought that this was a let-down. But when Mourinho used this lineup in this game, Shevchenko's expression became complicated.
Well... it's hard to put it into words, my mood is complicated. Even though I started in this game, I'm not happy at all.
Of course, other people did not have such complicated emotions as Shevchenko. They even looked at Zhou Liran with a bit of sympathy in their eyes: Although you are the coach's disciple and have candy from the coach every day, this candy is obviously not delicious!
The game started with the players feeling very complicated. The coach of Suwon Samsung almost laughed out loud when he saw Chelsea's starting lineup.
However, after 90 minutes of the game, looking at the final score of 2:0, the head coach could no longer smile.
On the way back home with sad faces, I heard that the fans in China were already scolding them as trash: With Chelsea's terrible defensive lineup, you didn't even score a single goal! You have brought shame upon the country! We in the Great Cold Netherworld don’t have players like you!
On the Chelsea side, players who thought Mourinho would only put such great pressure on his disciples when facing teams like Suwon Samsung found out that they were extremely wrong, because in the next four club friendly matches, the starting lineup in each game was basically substitutes.
Shevchenko started every game and scored in every game, and the Nightingales fans cried late at night.
Outside media are reporting that Mourinho has bowed to Abramovich and used Sheva in every game.
Of course, the above are only a small part of the comments after these games. The focus of most media and fans is that Mourinho really regards Zhou Liran as his only personal disciple!
The most important thing is that the media actually asked it directly, and Mourinho nodded and admitted it!
"Yes, he is my disciple. I think with him, I don't have to worry about the team's defense. He will be the best goalkeeper. I never doubt it."
Everyone knows that Mourinho is crazy, but they didn't expect Mourinho to say such words!
For a time, Zhou Liran was the talk of the town. Reporters who wanted to interview him lined up from England to France, but the media rarely got the chance to interview Zhou Liran because Mourinho picked him up from get off work and directly helped Zhou Liran refuse the interview: Ask me if you have any questions. Ritter is in training and doesn't have time to answer your questions.
Unable to interview Zhou Liran, the media went to interview other Chelsea players, asking them what they thought of Zhou Liran and what they thought about Mourinho attaching so much importance to Zhou Liran?
Regarding the first question, all Chelsea players thought for a long time and came up with one word: working too hard.
As for the last question - to be honest, seeing Zhou Liran training with the team every day in the past month, they went from jealousy in the beginning to numbness in the end. Now when they hear this question, they just want to ask in return: Do you want this blessing if it is given to you?
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