Chapter 59
Mourinho was the first to notice the change in Endrit, but the reason why Mourinho noticed it so quickly was not because he was very perceptive, but because Endrit opened the car door and got in early the next morning, fastened his seat belt, and then closed his eyes and took a nap.
"Coach, I'm going to get some sleep first."
Mourinho couldn't step on the accelerator any further. "Didn't you get enough rest last night?"
"No, coach," Endrit opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Mourinho, "I'm not very sleepy, but I just want to close my eyes and be lazy."
Mourinho didn't know what to say, "Okay, okay, then just close your eyes and be lazy until I call you."
When the two arrived at the club and were about to go their separate ways, Endrit did not leave directly. Instead, he reached out for candy and said with a wronged look on his face: "When I first joined the first team as a goalkeeper, you always gave me candy, but now you don't give me candy anymore. Do you hate me?"
"What are you thinking about?" Mourinho raised his hand and slammed his head, "I was just busy and forgot."
"Coach, your memory is not usually this bad..."
Mourinho bent his legs and pretended to kick someone, but Endrit waved his hand and ran away.
During training, the defenders found that Endrit, who was so serious yesterday, was not a limited edition. He was just as serious today. When they found that a defender was not defending well but was eager to attack, they would either pull the person back by the collar or stop throwing the ball to the opponent.
In addition, he would stare at the defender who always tried to play the role of a striker, without saying anything, just staring at him, until the latter sneered and silently took a few steps back.
"You're too close to me," Endrit shook his head at Ben Haim, "Go a few steps forward and try to expand the defensive area of our back line."
Ben Haim nodded repeatedly to show that he understood.
On October 7, Chelsea went to the University of Bolton Stadium to challenge Bolton, a team that has been hovering in the relegation zone from time to time, but the number of people who came to watch this game was no less than the previous one.
Endrit wondered in his heart if his popularity had not yet died down, but after the game, when he followed his coach to the press conference, he learned a piece of news: the game that just passed was not only the number one in ratings, it also directly broke the TV station's ratings record!
Is there something particularly exciting about the game that just ended? Endritt quickly recalled, but could not find anything special.
Bolton used a 343 formation in this game, a very typical tactical formation that focuses more on offense than defense. But because Mourinho used a more defensive 451 formation in this game and only let Kalou play as a striker, the goal guarded by Endritt did not suffer from the bombardment of Bolton striker Kevin and other players in this game.
Several times they were stopped by defenders before they could even reach the goal. If you count carefully, he only saved seven balls throughout the game. Moreover, the seven balls he saved were all directly shot out by him, without using any complicated saving moves at all.
And if we were to say the most exciting part of the game, it was probably the goal scored by Kalou in the 43rd minute?
"Are you sure you can handle those reporters' tricky questions?" Mourinho slowed down his pace a little, and when Endrit walked side by side with him, he put his arm around Endrit's shoulders. "This way, if you encounter a question you can't answer later, just look at me and I'll help you answer it."
Endrit nodded slightly.
Mourinho didn't say anything more, nor did he ask why Endrit took the initiative to ask to attend the post-match press conference today: the child has grown up, and he can't always be protected under his wings. He will have to face these reporters' questions alone in the future.
…
Since Endrit became the starting goalkeeper, he has hardly ever attended post-match press conferences and rarely accepted interviews from reporters. The videos of Endrit circulating outside are basically all his game videos, and there are no videos of him introducing himself to the camera.
This is completely unbelievable for the media. They have never seen such a player. You know, the players they used to promote lived under the spotlight almost every day. Endrit is different. Most of his private photos were taken by reporters with cameras. He never talks to reporters in private. He is picked up and dropped off by Mourinho every day when he goes to and from work. He never has any private time to go out and play and be bumped into by them by chance - is this reasonable?
His agent Mendes accepted so many advertising invitations recently, but there is still no news about which one he filmed - does this make sense?
It’s unreasonable, not reasonable at all!
Shouldn't he have stepped forward and taken the initiative to be interviewed when the name of the Iron-Masked Superman first spread throughout England, become a frequent guest on TV and in newspapers, frequent nightclubs and bars, and drink and chat with beautiful models?
But no matter what the situation is with Endrit, it is true that they couldn’t interview him, so if someone could really interview Endrit, the bonus would definitely be huge, but the money is really hard to earn, and the goalkeeper just doesn’t like to be interviewed by them... huh? ! !
The moment Endrit appeared at the door, the entire hall brightened up. It was not because someone turned on the lights, but because the reporters quickly pressed the shutter buttons at this moment. Without waiting for the host to speak, the media reporters sitting below started asking questions one by one. The originally elegant and quiet press conference scene suddenly became more lively than the vegetable market at six or seven in the morning.
Endrit sat next to Mourinho and looked at the reporters below, feeling quite happy.
Who hasn’t dreamed of being the center of attention when they were young and frivolous? He couldn't do this before, but now he can. This is a new and exceptionally brilliant life that belongs entirely to him.
"Ritter, is it stressful for you to be a goalkeeper? Do you think you are already the best goalkeeper in active service?"
Endrit touched his ear and thought that this reporter was quite familiar.
Mourinho looked at Endrit with some concern, but saw Endrit picked up the microphone with a relaxed look and said "Hello".
After confirming that he could make sounds, Endrit began to answer the first reporter's question, "Actually, my dream is to become the world's number one striker, but I don't seem to have the talent for this. But it doesn't matter. I heard that goalkeepers can also score goals. I hope I can become the goalkeeper with the most goals in the future."
"My pressure mainly comes from this aspect," Endrit frowned in distress, "My defensive teammates are thinking about scoring goals, so I can only defend with all my strength for fear of missing the ball. I don't have any extra time and energy to think about how to score goals. If being the No. 1 goalkeeper can make my teammates defend well, then I am still willing to be the No. 1 goalkeeper."
The reporter who stood up to ask the question never expected to get such an answer. He wanted to ask again, but the second reporter who was called had already stood up to ask the question.
"Ritter, what you mean is that you have a talent as a goalkeeper, right?"
"I'm not sure, but if I have to say, it might be because I look more like Iron Man." Endrit hummed softly, with the corners of his mouth raised. "I know a lot of people nicknamed me Iron Man, but that's not accurate, because I'm just like Iron Man in Marvel superheroes, my whole body is made of iron."
"This may be related to the fact that I have always liked to eat celery and spinach since I was a child. These two vegetables are high in iron." Endrit paused, as if he remembered something and immediately sat up straight, looking at the camera very seriously and said: "Iron is an essential trace element for the human body, in trace amounts, so you can't eat too much, it's not good for your health. But you can't not eat it either, that would be even worse for your health."
Mourinho felt that Endrit's tone of voice would soon be followed by the words "Kids, do you remember this?" But fortunately, Endrit stopped talking here, even put down the microphone, turned his head to look at him - what is this? No longer answering questions?
Mourinho coughed lightly, picked up the microphone and became Endrit's substitute. The reporters wanted Endrit to answer the question himself, but he just smiled at the camera and refused to respond.
After the press conference, Mourinho sent Endrit to his doorstep. After a moment of hesitation, he called out to him, "You said at the press conference today that you want to be the goalkeeper with the most goals in the world. Are you serious?"
"I'm just talking nonsense," Endrit waved his hand. "They're asking random questions, so I'm just talking nonsense."
"Iron Man," Mourinho pondered for a few seconds, "What is this? A new nickname you gave yourself?"
Endrit smiled and replied: "I don't like the nickname Iron Man, but Iron Man is acceptable."
He took the initiative to attend this post-match press conference for this purpose. It was difficult to force the first question to be about the nickname, and he finally achieved his goal with the second question, so he naturally would not continue to answer questions: he would just run away when his goal was achieved. Who would be willing to answer these reporters' questions full of traps?
"I haven't heard of it." Mourinho was a little surprised. "I thought you never read these things."
"Then you will hear about it later, coach~"
Mourinho thought Endrit meant that the name would become famous with Endrit, but in fact what Endrit wanted to express was that once the Iron Man movie is released next year, the whole world will know the name "Iron Man".
This time, he hit a big target!
After the game, Endrit had a day off. When he heard the alarm clock ringing, he not only did not get up early, but turned over and continued to sleep.
But unfortunately, before I could sleep for long, Mendes came to my door and brought me a piece of news: the UEFA Champions League Organizing Committee issued a statement this morning.
"It has something to do with me?" Endrit raised his finger and pointed at himself. "What is it?"
"They denied the possibility of match-fixing and filed a lawsuit against some fans."
"A fake match?"
As Mendes told the story, Endrit finally understood what happened: the cause was that the British media publicized Endrit, who looked like a goalkeeper, all over the world, boasting that a goalkeeper had appeared in the Premier League.
But the British media has a bad record. Fans of clubs that paid high transfer fees and suffered heavy losses because they believed in the so-called "geniuses" in their words will never believe it. Even if the game video is shot on their faces, they still won't believe it.
The British media must be bragging again! Did he really save so many balls? This game looks so fake! It’s obvious at first glance that this is a fake match!
Radical fans reported to the organizing committee and cursed it for being stupid. The remaining foreign fans were sitting on the wall, believing this side and then that side.
The outside world had previously thought that the organizing committee would simply not respond to such controversial topics as before, in order to increase the discussion of this year's Champions League in disguise, but unexpectedly, the organizing committee directly denied the claim of match-fixing this morning.
"They also posted a collection of your game highlights from your time as a Chelsea youth team player to your current first-team starting goalkeeper on their official account. Of course, there are also some videos I provided." Mendes opened the laptop he brought with him. "Do you want to take a look?"
Endri pointed it away, but immediately turned to the comment section.
“dvsndw”: Oh no, the British media actually made this true!
“scfwe”: This is incredible! He seems to be improving all the time!
"vevw": I think the British media is right this time, because Mr. Endrit really has the style of a goalkeeper.
“nvuwb”: Why is the Premier League so lucky? Before it was Beckham, now it’s Endrit, why? I am now a little worried about the World Cup in two years.
"buw": I just watched his interview! He said he was the Marvel superhero Iron Man! This is awesome! I like Iron Man too!
"hrf": Spider-Man is the best!
"mijo": Super talents are the best! Why doesn't he say he is Superman?
Mendes leaned over and asked after seeing the comment: "Yeah, why didn't you mention Superman? Superman is the most famous. Iron Man is not very famous overseas. It is said that they have already made a movie and it will be released next year. You are very famous now, and the crew will use your fame to your advantage."
Endrit's eyes lit up. "If the Iron Man crew contacts you, please tell them that I really like Iron Man. Ask them if they would like to invite me to attend the premiere."
Mendes was very puzzled. Isn't this just trying to take advantage of his popularity to others? But looking at Endrit's shining eyes, Mendes could only sigh softly, "Okay, I understand. If they contact me, I will mention this matter."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
