Jose is after you job mate! You may have a backstabber right under your nose. Beware!
The Winning Formula
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Wow some great updates recently mate and I hope you have a big future at Real
Chapter 2- The Start of an Era
Section 3
Alright lads, who's excited for the first day or training?
I hear a lot of murmurs and disapproving noises from the players, who looked bored and unhappy.
Ok then, let's start with a game of keep away. Defenders and Strikers vs Midfielders. Keep the ball and spread the field. All right.
Yes boss.
A tall center back, Inigo Martinez, is the only one who responds. He shines in training along with Xabi Prieto, the captain, and Carlos Vela, a striker. Some of the others look just plain lazy. Anotine Griezmann is one of them. He looks completely uninterested and plays awful football. The team as a whole looks lackluster.
Come on lads, this is terrible. Improve, or you'll run!
The game continues to lag. And I don't go back on my promise!
Alright guys, time to run. Touchline, to the 18, back to the touchline, to half, back ot the touchline, and to the length of the field. You'll do that 5 times. Don't come last, or you'l run more
Carlos Vela breezes through the running and finishes first, while Antoine Griezmann, an extremely fast player, comes last. He jogged the whole way.
Antoine. You ran that in 7 minutes and 22 seconds. You came last and everybody on this team just outworked you. So, you're going to run again. You have a limit this time. If you dont't run this is under 6 minutes and 30 seconds, you're going to run again.
Antoine glares at me, and starts his run. Jose, who is standing behind me, whispers into my ear.
Boss, are you sure you want to do this to the best player?
Jose, Antoine needs to learn some respect. Not for me, but for his teammates. babying him is not helping the team.
Alright.
Jose looks down at the grass as If he knows what's coming.
Griezmann finishes the run in 6 minutes and 12 seconds and keeps running at me. He starts screaming at me.
Boss, what was that for? You think you have a right to make me run. I'm the best player on this god damn team and I'll do what I want.
He towers over me, anger in his eyes. Then, I speak up.
Look, I'm paying you to play football for this team. That doesn't have to be the case. If you want, I can easily make 20 million euros of you. Those 20 million euros can be invested back into the team to buy some hard-working players that will listen to the coach! You hear me. You want to play, then you better start working your ass off for this team. If not, submit a transfer request. I'll have you gone in a week.
He looks back at me, stunned for a second. Then he shakes his head and walks back towards the team. The pitch is silent.
Alright, back to keep away. If it doesn't improve, you can run even more!
GET THAT GRIEZMAN OUT!!! No room for egos at my beloved Sociedad (Well not beloved but I do have a soft spot for them! :'))
Chapter 2- The Start of an Era
Section 4
After a couple of weeks of training, I have a pretty good idea of where the team needs to be improved. Their are three areas that we need to focus on. Left Back, Right Back, and Center Defensive midfield. Problem is, we have 6 million pounds to spend. That's maybe enough to buy one player. However, I'm in a good mood because one of my scouts, Juan Gomez, is coming back from Argentina. Maybe he has a player recommendation. Here he is now.
Roberto, do you remember telling me that we need some fullbacks and a defensive midfielder?
Of course Juan, why?
Well, I have the perfect player. His name is Juan Sanchez Mino. He's 22 years old and can play Left Back and CDM. He's the perfect fit for the team. He has great crossing, dribbling, and passing, so he fits perfectly with out play style.
Juan shows me the video of the young lad, and he looks exceptional. The best thing, he shouldn't cost us much. He's valued at 850k, but these younger players are expensive, and he should cost no more that 7 million pounds.
Secretary, get me on the phone with Carlos Bianchi!
Carlos Bianchi is the manager of Boca Juniors, the team that Mino plays on. I'll try to work out a deal over the phone.
Hello! Who is this?
Hi Carlos, this is Roberto Di Matteo.
Roberto, how are you? How is life at Sociedad
It's good, thank you.
Well then, let's get down to business. I assumed that you called to take one of my players off me?
Yes, Juan Sanchez Mino. The young left back. How about 3 million pounds for him. That's a fair price for an player like him. He's young and inexperienced. It's a huge risk for me and you get a guaranteed 3 million pounds up front.
How about 9 million pounds?
One second Carlos, I'll call you back soon.
Carlos wants 9 million pounds, but I know how to lower the price. The youngster will want to leave, and now all we have to do is make him know we are interested.
Secretary, get Alonso on the phone.
Isidro Alonso is a writer for the San Sebastian football daily. All I need to do is tell him about my interest in Mino, and the price will come down.
This is Isidro Alonso from the San Sebastian Football Daily. How can I help you?
Hi Isidro, this is Roberto Di Matteo, manager of Sociedad.
Hi Roberto, why are you calling?
Can you write in tomorrow's paper that I desperately want to sign Juan Sanchez Mino and that I feel he's being wasted at Boca Juniors.
You got it Roberto, thanks for calling.
Now all I need to do is wait, and the price should come all the way down. When morning comes, Mino will have talked to the press about the article in the football daily. Sure enough, when I check the news tomorrow morning, Mino has begged me to come and pry him away from Boca Juniors. And that's exactly what I'm going to do.
Secretary, get me Carlos on the phone.
Hello.
Hi Carlos, it's Roberto.
You just had to go public with this didn't you? You had to? Come on Roberto, you're ruining my team!
I don't care. I want Mino and I'll do anything I can to get him. 3 million pounds.
9 million pounds
5 mil
7 mil
5.75 mil
Done. *sighs* I'm making a mistake here. I'm putting Mino on the next flight to San Sebastian. You can work out a contract then.
Sure enough, Mino arrives in San Sebastian the very next day. We meet at a cozy little cafe, which I've reserved for the negotiations. I order myself and Mino a coffee, and then we get down to business.
Mr Mino, I'm so glad to have you here.
Thank you for having me. The coffee here is very good.
I'm glad you like it. Maybe you can lay out some guidelines for this contract.
Sure. How does this sound? 16 thousand pounds a week with a yearly salary raise of 10% and 65 thousand pounds TOTY bonus. With a 29 million pound release clause. The contract can run until 2016
It's not to bad, I think this is a relatively good deal for the team.
40 million pound release clause and we're good.
I leave in a relatively good mood. I've made a great transfer for the club. Nothing can go wrong now, right? ...
I love the story so far and this is a nice update It is a good idea to do negotiations in this this form of update.
Loving it so far! You left it on a bit of a cliffhanger. I wonder if he may just... Well, if he does reject, your boy Oceano from Bilbao recommends Ruben from Maritimo as a right back. £2m, you can't go wrong
Chapter 2- The Start of an Era
Section 5
I stand by the touchline, waiting for my first match as Real Sociedad manager. I wished that my debut had come under tens and thousands of fans, all cheering my name in the brilliant Anoeta stadium. But now, it was in this dump of a stadium in Italy. We're playing Croceta or Crotene or something like that.
The team I picked is extremely strong, including most first teamers. I'm going to have the team play the whole game, and play the reserves next match, simply because I want to test the players stamina and determination. I want to see if they lag at the end of the game.
Then the announcer begins to read the squad for today.
In goal for Sociedad, Caludio Bravo. At Right back, Dani Estrada. At Center Back, Inigo Martinez and Mikel Gonzalez. At Left back, Jose Angel.
Yes that's right, no Sanchez Mino at Left back. No new signings in the team. Why? Well, we had agreed on a contract and a fee. The papers were sent to UEFA and they were accepted. He was a Real Sociedad player. But Mino had one last training session with Boca. And while he was there, he pulled his groin! I nearly through my iPad at the wall when I heard the news! The trainers say he may be available for the preseason friendly against Arsenal, which will be on TV. Anyway, the announcer has started with the midfield
At Center Defensive Midfield, Javi Ros. At Center midfield, Ruben Pardo and Esteban Ganero. At Left wing, Antoine Griezmann. And at Right wing, Xabi Prieto.
Griezmann smirks at me from all the way across the pitch. I would bench him, but he's too vital to the team to play on the bench. So, I've been trying to work on his attitude and work ethic. Maybe that will pay off.
And at striker, Carlos Vela!
So that's the team I'm going to be using.
The game starts out slow, but it's obvious that we're the better team. We're moving the ball around in the midfield, and making Crotene chase the ball. Finally, we have a corner. And the first GOAL of my tenure has been scored. Oh wait, no! The ball has hit the crossbar. Javi Ros, are CDM for the game has hit a corner of the underside of the post, and it bounces back into play.
It's the 12th minute and Griezmann carrying the ball down the wing with blistering pace. I wonder why I don't see that kind of speed in training. Anyway, he rushes past one defender and spots Javi Ros in the box. Ros shoots to the near post, but no! Saved by the keeper. But Carlos Vela is there to tuck the rebound home. We've taken the lead.
Once again, in the 13th minute Griezmann is pulling all the strings. He's run into the middle and spotted Ruben Pardo, who has a real chance here! But he's put the ball into the side netting. A poor effort from the 27 year old who may be on his way out of San Sebastian.
It's half time now, and the boys have stalled a little since the first 10 minutes of the game, where lots of chances were being created. The best chance of the game since the Ruben Pardo chance actually fell to them. In the 15th minute Stefano Beltrame found some space in the 6 yard box and headed a cross off the bar and over the goal. Now it's time for the half time pep talk.
Ok lads, that's good football. Keep up the good work in their third of the pitch. Make dangerous runs and space will open up. And in the back, make sure that we don't panic. No players should be getting behind us like in the 15 the minute. Overall though, that's a half Let's see if we can double our lead before the end of the match. Oh, and Griezmann, that's good football. I wish I could see some of that in training. Now, get out onto the pitch and keep playing good football!
He tried to hide it, but I saw a tiny little smile on Antoine's face before he got back onto the pitch.
It's the 76th minute now, and the team have definitely slowed down. They don't look as threatening as they did early on. Crotone has had some good chances, They've gotten behind our defense, but Claudio Bravo has saved us multiple times. Now Jose Angel has the ball. The team is playing some quick passes, and now Ruben Pardo has the ball at the top of the box, he's threaded the ball towards Griezmann, who hits a one timer right into the top right hand corner. It's 2-0 to us off a wonder strike by Griezmann.
It's the 90th minute now, Crotone have the ball in the midfield. Christopher Blanco played an excellent through ball to Di Giorgione, who's played Pettinari though. He has plenty of time and oh, he clangs the bar. Still 2-0 to us, but as I expected, we were out played in the final 15 minutes of the game. I walk down the steps towards the locker room, where I address the players.
Ok guys, I expected more this half. I really did, we got out goal, but it could have easily been 2-2. The defense couldn't keep it together. We'll work on it all in training. For now, though, just enjoy your first victory under me. But, defense, we really need to improve. A Serie B side just had 16 shots on us. That's not good. Now, get out of here. Our plane leaves in 5 hours.
Chapter 2- The Start of an Era
Article
This one took up 2 whole newspapers, lol.
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