Chapter Forty-Six Get ready! Andrea!

Ranocchia, the youngest player in Fiorentina's first team, had already played in Serie A last season when he was less than 18 years old.

Although there are not many opportunities to play, most of the time Ranocchia is drawn by the reserve team and the youth team to play games, but for the future in Florence, Ranocchia is full of confidence.

Ranocchia is very aware of his position in the team. The main players are Kompany and Thiago Silva. Even Ujfalusi and Dainelli are seniors with rich experience and outstanding strength. So last season , He only played in the Coppa Italia and played five times as a substitute in the league.

Fortunately, this summer, Gamberini switched to Roma, which gave this handsome Italian guy hope. Before the second round of the UEFA Champions League qualifying match with Feyenoord, he played as a substitute for Dainelli and boarded for the first time. The big stage of the Champions League.

In the Fiorentina team, although Ranocchia did not have many opportunities to play, his potential was unanimously recognized by the coaching staff.

After Degan moved to Fiorentina last season, he was the first player to be introduced. It can be said that it was precisely because of Degan's appearance that he completely changed Ranocchia's football career.

If Degan hadn't been handpicked, Ranocchia would have spent his career in the small club of Arezzo until 2008 when he joined Genoa and was then loaned to Bari to play in Serie B. One of the feats of upgrading.

Returning to Genoa after the loan expires, with Papastathopoulos moving to AC Milan, Ranocchia also has plenty of space to prove himself.

Later, with his outstanding performance in Genoa, Ranocchia attracted the attention of Inter Milan, and then Moratti bought half of his ownership. Genoa play.

However, due to the aging of Inter Milan's defense, Lucio, Samuel, Cordoba and Materazzi are all over 30 years old. Rivas proved to be useless, making Inter Milan completely acquire Ranocchia. The process had to be accelerated ahead of schedule.

Finally, on December 27, 2010, Genoa and Inter Milan finally reached an agreement on the ownership of the other half of Ranocchia. Inter Milan invested another 12.5 million euros, which means that the total value of Ranocchia reached 19 million euros. Subsequently, the Inter Milan club officially announced the official signing of Ranocchia, and the successor of Nesta, who is already the main Italian central defender, officially joined the Meazza Stadium.

But the development of things is not as smooth as people imagined. Ranocchia, the tall young central defender, came to the Nerazzurri with the title of "Nesta II".

In the Apennine Peninsula, which advocates the art of defense, a good young central defender will be regarded as the cornerstone of a team's reconstruction, and Inter Milan's introduction of Ranocchia regards him as this cornerstone.

In the history of the transfer, the Nerazzurri once missed Nesta, which made them regret it for a long time after that, so the management does not want to miss Ranocchia again.

Of course, in order to introduce Ranocchia, Inter Milan paid a very high price. It was a heavy investment of over 10 million yuan, and they even let go of Destro, the hopeful star of the youth training system.

However, the actual development of a beautiful idea will not always be smooth sailing. In layman's terms, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment. In the following year and a half, people discovered that the development of Nokia was indeed far below expectations, and the fans also expressed their disappointment with this star of hope.

In the second season of joining Inter Milan, Ranocchia only played 14 times on behalf of Inter Milan's first team. In the 14 games he played, Inter Milan conceded 19 goals. In these 14 games, Inter Milan The record is 5 wins, 4 draws and 5 losses, including two losses in the Champions League. If the header lore Cesena was the only shining point of Ranocchia that season, then the 0:3 defeat at home against Bologna was the epitome of his performance throughout the season.

For a while, the praise seemed to disappear all at once, and people began to constantly dig out the reasons why Ranocchia could not succeed at Inter Milan.

First of all, in terms of physical fitness, people judge whether a central defender's physical fitness is good or not, the key is to look at these points: "confrontation", "speed", "balance", and "height".

And this is especially based on the ability of "confrontation". Of course, there are also masters with relatively average physical fitness but who can rely on consciousness to make up, such as Nesta.

But for the vast majority of central defenders, they would rather be born with insufficient height like Cordoba than fight against the weak. The biggest weakness of Ranocchia is his confrontation ability. In the direct one-on-one physical confrontation, Ranocchia has almost no advantage.

At the same time, Ranocchia's speed, especially the speed of turning around and chasing back, is another obvious disadvantage. At the same time, due to the height and body shape, Ranocchia's body balance is not good.

Ranocchia also has a bad habit in one-on-one defense, that is, he likes to grab with his feet when he is not sure. Maybe his long legs do have a certain advantage in steals, but an experienced The defenders often get stuck first, and then grab the ball. Even if they can't grab the ball, they must force the offensive player to the dead corner, because as the last barrier in front of the goalkeeper, once it is broken through, it is likely that there will be no protection behind. What's more, his recovery speed is extremely slow.

The evaluation of defensive awareness is relatively false, and it is also a question that seems to be very deep, but it is indeed very deep. From Ranocchia, it can be seen that the defensive attitude is good, and the awareness of filling positions is also good. Basically, When his teammates lose their position, he will try his best to make up for it. But in fact, to be honest, these are not "talents", they can only be regarded as "attitudes".

What is the so-called talent of defensive awareness?

It is the accurate judgment of an unruffled temperament and a clear defensive thinker. Perhaps Ranocchia does have this talent, but it has not been fully demonstrated.

These shortcomings of Ranocchia have not been fully improved after switching to Fiorentina. He still has shortcomings, and his shortcomings are still very obvious, but when Prandelli asked him, when he played against AC Milan, what should he do? When it was time to send someone to partner with Thiago Silva, Degan still did not hesitate to name Ranocchia.

Ranocchia does have many shortcomings, but these shortcomings, except for a very small number of central defenders who can play the main force at a very young age and are highly talented, those shortcomings almost exist in the vast majority of young defenders.

Moreover, when Nokia moved to Fiorentina, his football trajectory itself has changed. Technical shortcomings can be continuously improved, but psychological problems are not so easy to solve. Fortunately, Nokia now has a more relaxed growth environment.

Fiorentina is different from Inter Milan in the future. On the defensive line, Thiago Silva and Kompany are equally young, and there are veteran players like Ujfalusi and Dainelli. Ranocchia does not need to take too much responsibility. Many responsibilities, his task is to grow patiently.

In the previous life, the reason why Ranocchia was almost abolished in Inter Milan was because Inter Milan's attitude towards young players was too eager for quick success.

Degan has always felt that it might be more practical to treat young people. Don't exaggerate their talents, understand their abilities rationally, give them a growth process, give them opportunities to make mistakes, and let them have the opportunity to rise slowly. , instead of playing under the pressure of being a star from the beginning.

In any case, Ranocchia is just a young man. If he is an ordinary person, he may still be in college, waiting to enter the society. Everyone was young once, and maybe everyone was once confused when they were young. They've all made mistakes of one kind or another.

Now Ranocchia has passed the inflection point of his career. In Florence, he is no one's second, he is just Ranocchia, a young central defender waiting for an opportunity on the bench.

Half a day of training, because there will be a league match with AC Milan tomorrow, so the training subjects of this day are quite easy. When the training is over, the teammates are ready to leave.

"Andrea!"

Ranocchia looked back with surprise on his young face. Although he had been a teammate for a season, he and Digan didn't communicate much. More often, Ranocchia was fanatical like a fan Looking up at the idol Digan in his heart.

"Captain! You called me?"

Digan gestured to Ranocchia, he couldn't figure out why Ranocchia didn't know, but someone guessed it. When Montolivo passed by Ranocchia, he patted him on the shoulder in a friendly way.

"Come on, Andrea, I bet something good is coming to you!"

Ranocchia still didn't understand, but Digan called him, and he had to go over. When he arrived in front of Digan, the young man stood up straight, like a primary school student who was about to be reprimanded, but in fact, he and Digan were just The difference is more than two years old.

Seeing Ranocchia's appearance, Digan almost laughed out loud: "Relax! Andrea! I have no other intentions, I just want to chat with you, do you have time? Let's have a drink together!"

Seeing that Ranocchia wanted to shirk, Digan raised his head and said, "Boy! Don't tell me you haven't had a drink!"

Ranocchia smiled awkwardly and scratched his hair: "Okay! Captain!"

Digan didn't try to correct Ranocchia's address, Captain! Sounds pretty good too.

After leaving the gate of the training base and arriving at the parking lot, standing next to Digan's domineering Ferrari off-road vehicle, Digan noticed the look of envy in Nokia's eyes.

Digan patted his car, looked at Nokia and said, "Andrea, do you want to give it a try!"

Compared with Digan, who is synonymous with rich and handsome in football, Nokia, whose annual salary is only 150,000 euros, is obviously still in the ranks of small dicks. For him, this car is simply beyond his reach.

Hearing what Degan said, Ranocchia was also full of desire: "Is it really okay?"

"Of course!" Digan said, threw the car keys to Nokia, turned around and sat in the co-pilot seat, "Get in the car! I'll take you to a good place!"

Ranocchia sat in the driver's seat full of apprehension, started the car, and drove away all the way.

The good place Digan mentioned is actually his least favorite place, a wine culture salon, where there are the most famous brands of wine in Europe, and the people who go in and out are either rich or expensive. In Florence, it can be regarded as a landmark. place.

As soon as he entered the door, Ranocchia was frightened stupid. Looking at the polite reception, resplendent decoration, and the red wine worth more than 100,000 euros, all of these are obviously not within his reach at this stage.

"Captain! Here~~~~~~~~"

Digan smiled and said, "I don't like this place either. To put it simply, I don't like being in the same place with a bunch of hypocrites, breathing the same air, but you know what it means to be able to enter this door." ?"

Ranocchia shook his head blankly.

Digan laughed and said, "Money! Only rich people can spend money in this kind of place!"

Seeing that Ranocchia frowned slightly, Digan continued: "I brought you here not to show off to you, but to tell you a truth, as long as a person stands out, you can have a lot of things that you can't imagine , famous cars, famous wines, and women!"

Under the guidance of the waiter, the two sat down in a quiet place: "Can you feel it? Doesn't this place full of the rancid smell of money, but money is the most indispensable thing for a person!"

"Look at me now, do you know why I can have everything?"

Ranocchia lowered his head and said, "Because you are a star!"

"That's right!" Degan snapped his fingers, "Because I'm a star player, I can kick the ball into the goal of any team, so I'm in the category of successful ones now, what about you? Ranocchia, you How do you feel about yourself?"

"I'm ~~~~ still young!"

"Shit!" Digan sneered, "Young! Is this a reason? When I was your age, I already led Atlanta to win the Serie A and Italian Cup doubles! Andrea, I I think you know yourself very well, and you are very clear about the expectations of the coach and the club, you have great potential, these words are not from me, but from the coach, what I want to tell you is that he has high hopes for you!"

Ranocchia couldn't help being a little excited when he heard the words. Being valued by the coach is something to be happy about in itself.

"Andrea, what you lack now is the opportunity to prove yourself."

Ranocchia was even more moved when he heard the words. He is not a fool. How could he not understand what Degan meant? He has never been a person who dares to be ordinary. He also wants to succeed and have everything. He didn't know what success was, but now he understood that Digan was like a mirror, which represented success.

Think back to Degan's car, and look at everything around him. These are all things he can have, as long as he can succeed.

Seeing that the fire was almost ready, Degan smiled and said, "Don't get hot, boy! You are still far away! Success can't be changed in just one game, that's right! The coach told me that he thinks you can take on more Heavy responsibility, tomorrow's game against AC Milan, you will be the main force to partner with Thiago, Andrea, I want you to tell me, are you ready, how are you going to fight for success?"

How should Ranocchia respond?

He doesn't know, he doesn't even know how he got home!

After waking up, when Ranocchia recalled every word Digan said to him last night, he felt like his blood was burning.

The opportunity really came?

Looking at the few tickets he threw on the ground, they were given to him by Degan last night, asking him to invite his family to San Siro to watch the game, to watch him represent Fiorentina for the first time as a main force.

"Long live!"

Ranocchia yelled suddenly, and soon his parents, older sister, younger sister, and younger brother all came in. The family looked at Ranocchia who was still cheering in surprise.

"Andre? What's wrong with you?" Old Ranocchia frowned at his son.

His son has always been his pride. He used to be a player, but his career was not successful at all. After wasting a few years, he chose to retire in his twenties and became a truck driver. .

Ranocchia was able to join Fiorentina, and the whole family regarded it as a great opportunity to change their destiny, but Ranocchia failed to become a blockbuster as they imagined, and quickly became the main player of Fiorentina. Although slightly disappointed, Ranocchia is still very young , he also has a future.

When Ranocchia saw his family, he laughed loudly, rushed over, and hugged each family member, making them even more worried.

"Honey! What's wrong with you?" Ranocchia's mother looked at her beloved eldest son worriedly.

"I'm fine, Dad, Mom, Christine, Rachel, Philip! I'm fine! Really fine!" Ranocchia was a little incoherent, he wanted to make his family proud of him, "Today's game , Dad! Do you know? Today's game, your son, I, the future world superstar Andrea Ranocchia! I will make my debut for the great Viola Fiorentina for the first time. I will be the main force, the main force, what? So, isn't it great!?"

Hearing Ranocchia yelling, the whole family was stunned.

main force! ?

How can this be! ?

The old Nokia was the first to reflect: "Andre! Is what you said true?"

"Of course, do you know Rhodes? Our captain Digan told me himself. He was the one who sent me home last night. He told me the way I should go in the future. He is the best person. It is him Tell me, I will become the main force to challenge AC Milan!"

Listening to the old Ranocchia, a smile appeared on his face immediately, and he hugged Ranocchia in his arms suddenly: "Andre! This is simply amazing, I am so proud of you, really! I am so proud of you !"

After the whole family celebrated, Ranocchia remembered that he was going to gather with the big troops and go to Milan City together, and the whole family was in a hurry again.

By the time the Ranocchia family felt the Florence training ground, the others had already arrived.

"Go! Andre! Go and be with your teammates, remember! You are the best, you can be the best star in the world!"

Ranocchia took a deep breath and walked towards his teammates with apprehension.

Prandelli, who was already in the car, looked at Ranocchia's nervous face, frowned and said, "Rod! Are you sure you have settled the matter I told you yesterday."

It's really hard for Digan to describe his current mood. He clearly remembered that when he sent Nokia home yesterday, this furry kid who was only two years younger than him was like a firecracker that had been ignited, full of fighting spirit. .

But what is this now?

Looking at Ranocchia's nervous appearance, he didn't look like a player who was going to prove himself on the big stage. Instead, he looked like a strong man who was captured by the Kuomintang and wanted to be thrown into the battlefield as cannon fodder.

Prandelli's skeptical eyes made Digan very upset, so he could only bite the bullet and say, "I think it should be all right!"

should be no problem!

Digan repeated it to himself again in his heart, but who can say for sure!

Looking at the posture of the Ranocchia family, it is obvious that they regard this game as an opportunity to change the fate of the whole family, but if Ranocchia can really perform well in this game, maybe they really have a chance.

The whole team boarded the car, and Ranocchia waved goodbye to his family, and they drove to Milan by themselves.

The bus started, and Prandelli announced the starting lineup for this game on the bus. This was the first time. Before the game, he would announce the candidates for the main lineup at the end of training the day before the game.

When Prandelli announced that Ranocchia would be the starter today, the atmosphere in the car suddenly changed. Although Dainelli was disappointed, he accepted it calmly. He is now the team's second Captain, and he is not a person who is used to causing trouble.

The face of the Czech Ujfalusi became a little angry. Maybe if it was Dainelli, he could accept it, but now he lost to a young boy, which made him very dissatisfied.

But even so, Ujfalusi still did not choose to vent his dissatisfaction. Everyone knows that this is Degan's team. After seeing Degan's violent temper, no one dares to play on Degan's territory act wildly.

The other teammates who had no position conflict with Ranocchia congratulated Ranocchia after a moment of astonishment. After all, this young man has a very good personality and is usually very popular in the team.

And the most important point, after the training yesterday, Degan kept Ranocchia on purpose. Although they didn't know what happened, everyone still subconsciously attributed Ranocchia to Degan's people, just like Paccini Same as Montolivo.

Digan looked at Ranocchia with a shy smile on his face, and thought to himself: Boy! Whether you can succeed or not depends on yourself!