Chapter 826 Your good days are over!
"Cheers!"
In a restaurant in the center of Manchester, not far from the Etihad Stadium, Su Dong booked the entire restaurant and organized a team-building dinner for all the first-team players.
This happened on the evening after the match against Birmingham.
As the team lost the League Cup, there was no game in the middle of the week and we had another day off.
After learning from previous experiences and lessons, Su Dong was afraid that Gareth Barry, Joe Hart and others would go out drinking and causing trouble again, so he decided to organize a team building, paid for it himself, and invited the entire team to a dinner.
The location was chosen to be this famous restaurant in Manchester.
The so-called cheers are actually cups of boiled water raised in everyone’s hands.
The dishes ordered by Su Dong were basically safe for the players to eat, so after they were served, everyone started to eat.
There are several English players in the team who seem to be a bit imperfect, and Su Dong knows it.
"Joe, Gareth, you can go and choose the wine, but we have agreed that each person can have at most one bottle of beer. It doesn't matter how much it costs, just go ahead and choose." Su Dong said with a smile.
Joe Hart and Gareth Barry were immediately happy. They called Adam Johnson, Given and others, ran to the wine cabinet to choose wine, and threatened to drink Su Dong bankrupt, but how was this possible?
This was something Su Dong had applied for from Guardiola before, after all, there was no game until the weekend this week.
There is a saying that goes, it is better to unblock than to block.
Instead of forcing them to quit drinking now, it is better to control their drinking amount.
If we force them not to drink now, but after dinner they will sneak outside to drink again, wouldn’t that be even worse?
The bad habit of alcoholism among English players has a long history and it is not something that can be changed overnight or by just one team.
…
After seeing off Joe Hart, Gareth Barry and others, young player Sterling came over with a glass of juice and wanted to toast with Su Dong to thank Su Dong for specially inviting him to the first-team party.
"Actually, you have always been a player of our first-team." Su Dong clinked glasses with him with a smile.
As the captain of the team, Su Dong not only has to consider himself, but also the locker room and even the young players in the team. Sterling is a player that everyone in Manchester City values very much. It took a lot of effort to snatch him from Liverpool. He is also a young rookie that the English football world is very optimistic about.
The prestige of a team captain is not something that comes on its own, nor is it acquired after being appointed by the head coach. If the captain wants to gain the support and recognition of the locker room and the love of his teammates, he needs to do a lot of things, not only working hard in games and training, but also setting an example in daily life and even being involved in daily management.
Sterling is not yet sixteen years old. Although he usually trains with the first team, there are only a few players who participate in competitions with the youth team. However, Su Dong invited him to participate in the first team activities, which is obviously a recognition and acceptance of him.
As long as he continues to perform well, it will be a natural progression for him to join the first team.
What Su Dong wants is not only Sterling's gratitude and love for him, but also his better integration into the first team.
…
Joe Hart and others brought some wine, and several players in the team who were drinking also came over.
Su Dong said that each person could control the amount of beer they drank, so they all let go.
The other players gathered in groups of two or three, chatting about topics they were concerned about, such as women, games, etc.
Professional players are, after all, just ordinary people who can play football. Many of them are not as well-educated as ordinary people in terms of thinking. Therefore, discussing how to make money and invest is also a frequent topic among players.
Su Dong usually doesn't get involved in it, more often someone comes to him and asks him something.
Everyone knows that the Soviet Union is independent in the world of football.
But Sudong has his own team. Pepe, Marcelo, David Silva and Toni Kroos are all Sudong's loyal team. They are all closely united around Sudong.
Di Maria, Moutinho, Sanchez and others are also very close to Su Dong because of Mendes.
This formed the most core force in Manchester City's locker room, the loyal Sudong Party.
"Su, is the team really considering signing Leighton Baines?" Marcelo suddenly asked with concern.
As the team's main left-back and a player who has achieved brilliant success in Bayern, Marcelo has always been controversial, mainly because of his defense.
In terms of offense, in today's world football, who else can play the left back position except Marcelo? But in terms of defense, Marcelo is indeed quite poor.
As early as when he was at Bayern, Marcelo's defense was often criticized, and opponents would frequently counterattack his side to attack Bayern.
There are even reports that Bayern is willing to sell Marcelo in order to give more comprehensive players such as Contento, Badstuber, and even young players such as David Alaba a chance.
Now that he has come to Manchester City and has only played for a few months, are they really going to sign Leighton Baines? Everton's left-back is indeed more comprehensive than Marcelo, and he is a local player, which naturally has an advantage.
Su Dong could sense Marcelo's nervousness and a little worry, so he smiled, reached out, and patted Marcelo's shoulder vigorously, "Do you have so little confidence in yourself, kid?"
Marcelo grunted in pain and said defensively: "This is not a question of confidence or not."
"I can tell you with certainty that the team is indeed working on Leighton Baines, but it's not that Guardiola is dissatisfied with you. On the contrary, he likes full-backs like you the most, so he also wants to introduce Alves on the right."
If Marcelo on the left is the representative of the offensive full-back, then Alves on the right is also the representative of the winger-type full-back, which is very similar to Marcelo.
"Is Bridge really leaving the team?" Pepe asked.
This English left-back actually has very little playing time. Sometimes Guardiola would rather let Boateng play on the left than give him a chance to play, which shows his dissatisfaction with him.
Su Dong saw the concerned looks of his teammates and nodded immediately. They are currently in contact and the team is also actively working on it. Leighton Baines' transfer fee is not cheap. "
Left-footed players are popular in themselves, and they are also England internationals, with the advantage of being a local registered permanent resident, so the transfer fee will definitely not be low.
That's why Marcelo cares.
Aren’t the local international players who were brought in with a huge sum of money obviously meant to take his place?
Su Dong looked at Marcelo with a smile and encouraged him, "Don't worry, even if Leighton Baines is really introduced, you will still be the team's main left back, so there is no need to worry too much, but..."
At this point, Su Dong changed the subject and said, "You have to remember that the main position is not fixed. If you want to firmly lock in your position, you must show stronger strength and better condition, and make up for your own shortcomings and weaknesses through training, and then meet the challenges from any opponent."
Marcelo understood that Su Dong actually wanted to persuade him to strengthen his physical and defensive training.
This does not mean that he should give up his own advantages, but make up for his own weaknesses and shortcomings while maintaining his advantages.
"I understand." Marcelo nodded heavily.
Manchester City offers a high salary, and Marcelo can play with good friends like Sudon and Pepe. Marcelo really doesn't want to give up such an opportunity, and he is willing to work hard for it.
Su Dong and Peipei looked at each other and smiled at each other.
Marcelo is actually a carefree person, so he is very likable in the locker room, but at the same time he is also heartless. Giving him a little pressure can promote his progress, which may not be a bad thing for him.
"In fact, everyone should be mentally prepared for this."
Now that things have come to this, Su Dong feels that many things should indeed be discussed.
"Before, the team had just been reorganized and the lineup was relatively thin. There was only one main player in many positions and there was a serious lack of competition, so everyone could train and play comfortably, but in the future, this situation will definitely change."
Su Dong said this not only to the people around him, but also to Joe Hart, Gareth Barry and others.
Today, except for Bridge, Wright-Phillips and Santa Cruz, three players who were rumored to leave the team, all the Manchester City first-team players were sitting here, and Su Dong's words were also addressed to each of them.
"If the team wants to achieve better results, it must have a strong lineup to cope with multiple fronts. Everyone has seen our situation this season. If we hadn't rotated a little, we would have lost the League Cup. Otherwise, we wouldn't be able to sit together now."
Everyone nodded, and several players who had participated in the League Cup showed a look of shame.
"To cope with multiple fronts, the team must have a strong lineup and introduce more high-level players, which will inevitably intensify the competition for every position in the first team. Everyone, including me, will face huge competitive pressure."
There are only eleven people in the starting lineup. Who will play and who will not play depends on the players' performance and condition.
In the past two years, or even in the past three years, Manchester City players have lived too comfortably.
The annual salary is high, it doesn't matter if the results are not ideal, and the competitive pressure is also small. As a result, many players become obviously slack after joining the team, and their performance is very different from before in their respective teams.
The club has also realized this problem, so it will increase the recruitment of players, enhance the team's internal competition, put more pressure on the players, and thus drive the improvement of the team's overall performance.
"I can say that the competition within the team will be more intense in the future, but the team will also formulate a more reasonable reward and punishment system, so I hope that everyone here can work harder and play at their best, which is not only to help the team, but also to help themselves."
Su Dong had finished speaking. As for what choice to make, it was up to everyone present.
He was just a captain, not their elder or master, so there was no need for him to give them instructions.
We are all adults and everyone should be responsible for themselves.
(End of this chapter)
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