Chapter 14 The Bad Boy

Sometimes, playing football is very close to working in the workplace.

Joining a wealthy family is like joining a famous company, leading a high salary that everyone envies. On the surface, it looks more glamorous than others, but the pressure also comes with it. The internal competition is fierce enough to crush countless people.

If you are not overwhelmed, then congratulations, with the help of the platform of famous companies, your career development is about to take off.

However, not everyone can adapt to the competitive pressure and work intensity of famous companies.

In the same way, not all players can adapt to the competitive pressure and training intensity of the giants.

Woodgate is one such player.

From a technical point of view, Woodgate has almost no obvious weaknesses, and it is precisely because of this that Real Madrid will be willing to pay him nearly 17 million euros in transfer fees, which is considered very high among central defenders price up.

From a psychological perspective, Woodgate has no obvious problems.

What really prevented him from gaining a foothold in Real Madrid was his fragile body.

In a team like Real Madrid, the competition is unprecedentedly fierce, and even in many cases, training is more tragic than actual combat.

Gao Shen still remembers that after retiring, Woodgate once accepted an interview with Marca and mentioned his bleak experience in Real Madrid. He said that language and injuries were the key factors for his failure to play in Real Madrid, which caused him frequent injuries. In addition to his own physical factors, the reason is the fierce competition within the Real Madrid team.

"When you enter such a big club, you can't even lose training. Losing a game is more like losing a world war!"

Unfortunately, Woodgate's start in Real Madrid can be described as miserable.

After a long-term injury, he delivered an own goal to the Bernabeu fans on his debut.

If a good start is half the battle, then Woodgate's poor start doomed his tragic fate.

…

Gao Shen shouted to Woodgate who had just finished the examination outside the medical room.

Today's English central defender has long since lost the slightest bit of the "bad boy" in the Premier League. Years of injuries and huge pressure from public opinion have worn away Woodgate's vigor.

Those with high EQ call it maturity, and those with low EQ call it lying down after repeated beatings by reality.

But what surprised Woodgate was that Gao Shen talked to him directly in English.

From the day he joined Real Madrid, from Camacho to Raymond to Luxembourg to Carlo, none of the head coaches could understand his English, which left him with a huge language barrier between the coaching staff .

It can be said that this is also an important reason for his frequent injuries.

There is no communication, he doesn't understand what the head coach means, and the head coach doesn't understand his thoughts.

After meeting and chatting for a few words, Gao Shen took out an old photo.

The man in the photo looks a bit young, wearing the jersey of the England national team, Woodgate recognized it at a glance, it was taken on June 8, 1999, in Bulgaria, European Cup qualifiers, he represented England for the first time play.

In that game, his partners were Southgate and Campbell.

It was also in that game that Rio Ferdinand, who later created the sky-high price of the world's number one central defender, sat on the bench.

That year, he was nineteen years old.

It was also that year that Chelsea's captain Terry was still unable to play for the first team.

Woodgate stared blankly at the photo for a long while, then turned his head and looked at Gao Shen warily.

"What do you mean?"

It's not surprising.

This rookie head coach, who was criticized by the locker room bosses, fans and the media, showed such a photo as soon as he met him. What is he trying to do? Could it be that he wants to say that he is my fan and use this to get close?

If he was a few years younger, Woodgate might have taken it, but now... huh.

Gao Shen smiled lightly, "You know, I'm studying sports at Loughborough University. I have a classmate from Leeds. He is a fan of Leeds United, and he is also a fan of you. This is one of his photos of you, even if Up to now, he still thinks that you are the best central defender in England, and even in the world."

Woodgate didn't react at all, because he didn't know where Gao Shen's photo came from, and whether the story was true.

But Gao Shen's subsequent words completely changed his face, revealing an inconceivable expression.

"He has been watching you and waiting for you." For some reason, when Woodgate heard this, he couldn't help but believe it.

Attention and anticipation, this is what he longs for and what he lacks.

As a once highly anticipated star, he once enjoyed countless attention and expectations, and even he once dismissed them, especially when he joined Real Madrid, he was ambitious to achieve himself in this team A new peak in his career, becoming a member of the world's attention superstars.

But all of this is now gone from him.

In the past one and a half years, he has completely lost joining Real Madrid, and even lost all the ambitions he had played for so many years. He knows that his career is like this.

Ferdinand and Terry, the two peers he once left behind, have now surpassed him, and he will never catch up in his life.

No one could understand the depression and loss in his heart, and no one even paid attention to his every move.

In the beginning, the media would report some of Woodgate's injuries, but gradually, no one cared about it.

The media is like this, the fans are like this, and even the head coach is basically like this.

Sometimes Woodgate wonders if Real Madrid's coaching staff has forgotten that there is such a player in the team?

"In the UK, and even in the world, there are many fans like my friend. They have not forgotten you. They have been paying attention and waiting, but you don't know it."

When Gao Shen was speaking, he noticed that Woodgate The hand holding the photo trembled slightly, and he knew that he was right.

There is a Hawthorne effect in management, which means that when a person realizes that he is being watched, he will subtly and deliberately change some behaviors.

The friend of this Leeds fan is real, and the photo is real, but whether he still pays attention to Woodgate is unknown.

Gao Shen's intention is obvious, that is to tell Woodgate one thing through this incident, that is, there are still many fans who are silently paying attention to and looking forward to him.

As for whether Gao Shen, a friend, is still paying attention, this is no longer important, and there is no way to verify it.

Guiding through stories is always more effective than simple and rude preaching.

Especially when Gao Shen uses Woodgate's familiar English.

"I let them down, you know, my body..." Woodgate became frustrated.

Gao Shen shook his head, "I just asked the team doctor that your physical condition is not bad, but the pressure is too high and the tension is too tight, which causes you to become overly nervous in many cases, which in turn is prone to mistakes and injuries."

"You know Yes, there are cases like yours. Let's just talk about Ronaldo. Isn't he injured more seriously than you? Isn't he recuperating longer than you? But now, he is still the top striker in the world, isn't he? Can you?"

Ronaldo can, don't you have a chance too?

Woodgate figured out what Gao Shen wanted him to understand.

And he was indeed a little moved.

"You know, in this weekend derby, Ramos will be suspended for accumulating yellow cards, and our central defender has a vacant position. I hope you can replace Ramos and partner with Elguera."

"Me?" Woodgate was taken aback.

"Yes, and I'm sure you've seen it, right now there's a serious shortage of centre-backs and you're the best option for the team, but if you continue to get injured or don't perform well over the weekend, I'll reconsider other options Gao Shen once heard a very interesting little question: two choices, one is to take twenty yuan directly, the other is to guess coins, if you win, you will have a chance to win one hundred yuan, if you lose, you will get nothing.

Most people will choose to take twenty yuan directly.

why?

Because when a choice is given, the chooser will automatically regard the 20 yuan as their own, so they will subconsciously feel that guessing the coin may cause them to lose the 20 yuan. Not even the hundred bucks.

Savvy management often uses this method to motivate employees.

Gao Shen first gave Woodgate a position as the main central defender, and then told him that if he did not perform well, he would lose this position, which made him feel disgusted deep in his heart.

Not a distaste for being high, but a distaste for losing a starting job that you got.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Woodgate took a deep breath and said loudly: "Don't worry, you don't have such a chance!"

After speaking, the England central defender turned and left.

By the way, I also took away the photo of Gao Shen's friend.

…

After watching Woodgate leave, Gao Shen breathed a sigh of relief.

The management of personnel in the locker room of a wealthy family is really a very brain-burning thing.

Each player's personality is completely different, and each player's experience and appeal are also completely different. It seems simple to combine these people into a whole, but it is actually very complicated.

Especially for a rookie like Gao Shen who has no qualifications, why should they be obedient?

Now it can only be said that everything is just on track.

This is what Mao Zedong said, fighting with others is a lot of fun.

After returning from the medical room, Gao Shen buried himself in the office preparing the training materials for the afternoon.

In the tactical library last night, he focused on Benitez's double midfielder tactical play in Valencia and Liverpool, focusing on the formation and positioning, especially the construction of the defensive system, which involves too much What a complicated thing.

What Gao Shen can do at present is to pull out a tactical framework in a short period of time, and play combat effectiveness in the weekend derby as soon as possible, and then slowly enrich and improve it when there is time.

But even so, Gao Shen still has a lot of things to do, the first thing is to let the players understand his way of thinking.

As Real Madrid players, tactical literacy is not a problem. As long as they understand and are willing to implement it, then this tactical play will definitely work, because this itself is part of the tactical literacy of professional players.

So Gao Shen's next challenge is how to let the players understand his tactical requirements and how to adapt the team's tactics.

The weekend is the derby, and there is really not much time left for him.