Midfielder

The battle for the top 16 of the Champions League has finally been finalized, but the preparation time of nearly three months is not sufficient for these teams, especially those teams that are not doing well recently.

Collective injuries to AC Milan's center backs, Real Madrid's increasingly poor defense, and Arsenal's core midfield problem that has been unresolved for a long time have all given these giants a headache.

These are not problems that can be solved in a short time, but in the face of the Champions League schedule that has been finalized, it is estimated that many wealthy teams will find ways to make up for the shortcomings in their lineups and strive for a good state.

This kind of confrontation between strong teams sometimes depends on the slightest difference between victory and defeat, and every detail must be perfected.

Selecting an opponent means that in the next three months, we must try our best to develop tactics and main lineups to defeat the opponent. It may be best if we can ambush a few surprise soldiers.

But expecting to come up with a surprise weapon within three months is probably not an easy task.

Collect all information about your opponent, including the main status, recent tactics, and even the guys on the bench. You need to study all of this in order to successfully kill your opponent in the game.

And in addition to preparing for fierce battles in the Champions League, these teams also have to consider their performance in domestic leagues or cup competitions. Sometimes they have to make some trade-offs. Fighting on multiple fronts really consumes physical energy.

Teams like Villarreal and Rangers have given up their domestic cup competitions in order to take a step closer to the Champions League. Small and medium-sized clubs still cannot afford such a multi-line war of attrition.

But teams like AC Milan and Barcelona have the ability to fight on multiple fronts, and no trophy will be given up easily. At this critical moment, greed is actually a drag.

After all, there are not many clubs like Chelsea with more than 20 international-level players.

When these guys are fighting on multiple fronts and with full firepower, many teams can only stand on the sidelines and envy them.

It can be said that almost every team has its own issues that need to be seriously considered. By reaching the top 16 of the Champions League, it will get more ticket revenue and broadcast fees, but there will also be more things to worry about.

Everyone is afraid that they will stumble. Those who want to be a dark horse hope to perform a miracle, and those who want to defend the honor of the giants pray for smooth sailing. Anyway, all kinds of mentality are exposed on the big stage of the Champions League.

However, compared with these competitors, the Chelsea team seems very calm, even though the media outside are already making a lot of noise, advocating Barcelona's Champions League revenge battle against Chelsea.

But things seemed calm inside Chelsea, because Mourinho had already told these players, "We play the game on our own, and reading the newspaper will not help us win."

"UEFA has chosen our opponents for us. Regardless of how the other side clamors, the game must be played according to our own habits. Anyway, there are still three months, and there is still enough preparation time. Don't forget, those are a group of people who played last season. If our subordinates are defeated, we won’t have to defend our title if we are intimidated by them.”

Mourinho didn't need to say more, his two words in such an understatement were enough.

The head coach didn't feel nervous, so his players would be even less nervous.

What's more, it's not like we haven't played against the Catalans before. Do they want revenge, so we must follow these guys' ideas and play? To hell with them, we're the winners!

Think of that guy Lin Yi, who behaves more calmly, Messi? Ronaldinho? He doesn't care who his opponent is. After all, the game is played with his feet. As for the opponent? Love so and so.

And Chelsea now has its own advantages compared with those competitors. First of all, the points lead in the league gives them no worries. Although the Champions League will not start in three months, Chelsea has accumulated enough leads before that. , you can let them splurge.

Although the League Cup and FA Cup competitions are also a kind of consumption, Chelsea can still cope with multi-front operations by relying on large-scale lineup rotation. Their substitute lineup is enough to overcome all obstacles before entering the quarterfinals of these two cup competitions. , the fourth-line battle is not stressful for Chelsea.

Mourinho said in the first training session after the draw was confirmed, "After this, Chelsea will begin large-scale personnel rotation in the League Cup, FA Cup, including the league."

This is the first time Mourinho has publicly talked to his players about the rotation system. He even warned his main players not to risk injuries just to get some bullshit statistics.

What Chelsea wants is not the top scorer or assists leader. What Chelsea wants is victory, not records.

Compared with those boring lists, moving forward one step at a time is the most important. In a long season, even an iron man will get rusty sometimes. We should try our best to avoid this situation. Mourinho's rotation system requires everyone to reserve their physical fitness and wait for the final decisive moment. This guy will not do things that are heroic in the first half and bearish in the second half.

Chelsea's players are precious and Mourinho cannot afford to injure any of them. He does not need non-combat attrition. During these three months, he must try his best to preserve the team's main lineup.

If you want to compete with those strong teams for the Champions League trophy, you must protect your strongest combination.

In order to prevent Chelsea's players from falling into a vicious cycle of fatigue, everyone must have sufficient time to rest. For league results, there is no need to maintain a winning streak.

Even if the media and reporters have been advocating that Chelsea may end this Premier League championship with a full-season winning streak, Mourinho doesn't care about this meaningless flattery.

For Mourinho, keeping every player in game condition and giving everyone enough rest time is more important than anything else. Those so-called records are unimportant clouds.

Moreover, this kind of rotation can also allow many substitute players to get enough playing opportunities. If a few available guys can be found from it, it will also be of great benefit to future European competitions.

The points advantage is one of them. Before the winter transfer window is about to open, Mourinho and Kenyon have taken the first step, which can be regarded as making up for some shortcomings for Chelsea. Their finalized defender candidates have basically been finalized. As long as Once the transfer starts, Chelsea can immediately get personnel supplements.

Mourinho gave Kenyon a list of personnel who needed to be supplemented more than a month ago. Even when Chelsea maintained a winning streak and made rapid progress, Mourinho was also considering continuing to strengthen the lineup.

An unchanged lineup represents stability, but at the same time, such a lineup also represents nothing new.

Teams that have not changed are the easiest to study. If you want Chelsea to remain highly competitive, the best way is to make tactics and personnel combinations always beyond others' expectations.

Especially when encountering Barcelona this time, Mourinho does not want to be thoroughly studied by his opponents.

Maintaining the team's personnel adjustments means retaining the possibility of changing tactics. Before encountering Barcelona in February, Mourinho needs to recruit a few more backup players so that his opponents cannot guess his next move.

It has to be said that Kenyon is still good at handling transfers. Within a month, he completed the transfer.

There is no suspense about Bosingwa. In addition to the physical examination and signing, this guy only had to carry his travel bag to Stamford Bridge to report. His family moved faster and started looking for a house in London.

Although Porto and Chelsea are still secretive, it is an open secret.

The fee of 12 million is not cheap, but it is not too bad to find such a versatile person.

Manchester United and Arsenal have also contacted Porto, trying to intercept Bosingwa's ownership halfway.

But the price Kenyon could offer killed this possibility instantly. In Zaoda Costa's eyes, there is indeed a gap between 12 million euros and 8 million euros. After all, 4 million euros is money.

Ferguson and Wenger could only watch helplessly as Kenyon succeeded in another robbery, and Bosingwa wisely did not participate in Porto's Champions League this season and still retained his qualifications for the European war.

This is why Kenyon raised the price so high right out of the gate, directly killing his competitors. What Mourinho needs is the kind of person who can play immediately after joining the team.

As expected, Mourinho has already included Bosingwa in his preparation plan. The League Cup and the FA Cup are important battlefields where this guy is familiar with the Premier League and the team.

Mourinho just didn't expect that Kenyon would be so decisive and quick when settling the transfer issue. He could even handle Bosingwa and a central defender at the same time.

The list that Mourinho gave to Kenyon included many who were the mainstays of various teams, but he specifically mentioned Frederich's name at the end of the list.

Of course, this Arne Friedrich is the current captain of Hertha Berlin, not the Manuel Friedrich who has been wandering back and forth between Mainz and Werder Bremen.

Kenyon didn't pay much attention at the time, but when he couldn't deal with Pique and Kompany, the first thing he saw before contacting Mertesacker was Friedrich's performance. It was a peak confrontation, but it was such an ordinary Bundesliga match, but Kenyon remembered it deeply.

Friedrich played at the center back position throughout the game and did not give the opponent any chance. His height of 1.85 meters allowed him to block all air strikes into the penalty area and never lost in head-to-head confrontations.

Kenyon is a guy with a very keen sense of smell, after seeing such a performance by Frederic.

He realized almost immediately that if this guy played as a central defender in the Premier League, his header advantage could be maximized, and in addition to defense, he could also be involved in offense.

This German-born big guy is also a versatile player. He can not only play as a center back, but also as a right back. However, what makes Kenyon most proud is the value of this guy.

Who would have thought that such a guy was the captain of Hertha Berlin, and his liquidated damages were less than 15 million euros. When this guy faced Kenyon's temptation of the Champions League and the salary conditions of the Premier League, from then on His agent and himself could no longer resist the double attack of honor and money, and Hertha Berlin must have hated the amount of liquidated damages when the contract was signed.

But Kenyon's shrewdness has forced Hertha Berlin to accept the fate of being robbed. Even if they hate it to the core, they can only watch their captain being robbed by Chelsea.

This is nothing less than a fatal blow to Berlin, which is aiming for a Champions League spot this season.

But you can get a suitable center back for more than 10 million, which is really cheap for Kenyon.

You have to know the current market situation. Any decent central defender will cost a starting price of 20 million in the Champions League. Don't think it's too expensive. Even with this market price, you may not be able to buy a useful player.

Even Richards was fired to more than 20 million, and Kenyon had to sigh, oh, what a fickle market this is, but when this guy sighed, he didn't think about it, if it weren't for Abramovich With Chelsea messing with the transfer market, the transfer fee won't be so outrageous.

You reap what you sow. It is estimated that in a few years, if Chelsea's youth team grows up, they may be able to recover some of the team's initial investment, but that will have to be at least five or six years later.

Although he invested 27 million euros, Kenyon still brought back two qualified defenders to Mourinho. In addition, Kenyon also brought Mourinho's old subordinates from Russia. After moving to Moscow in London, Maniche, who was a little acclimatized, joined Chelsea on loan this time. However, if this guy performs well, it is only a matter of time before he is bought out.

With such an old subordinate joining, Mourinho has nothing to be dissatisfied with. Maniche can also play many positions in the midfield. He is very practical in multi-line operations and large-scale rotations.

And the rental fee is only one million euros, which is not expensive. In addition, it only needs to pay Maniche's personal salary. If there is a buyout in the future, it will not exceed about 10 million euros.

The Russians really have nothing to do with this former member of the championship team who has been unable to cheer up in the Russian Super League. Even if they watch Chelsea taking advantage of him, they can only endure it.

But Abramovich will not be too stingy with his homeland team. If he wants to buy out Maniche, he will not let Dynamo Moscow suffer too much loss. Ten million euros is not a problem for him. .

Such a deal, regardless of success or failure, is not too costly. Moreover, Mourinho is very familiar with Maniche. He knows how to use this versatile player, and Maniche also needs to be familiar with his coach.

At least now it seems that this is a win-win deal. It took more than a month to finalize three transfer contracts. Kenyon's efficiency can be seen as average, and this guy also contacted two additional businesses.

"Antonio Cassano, Nicolas Anelka, it seems that the frontcourt players you prepared for me are all guys with strong personalities. These two are not the kind of players who follow orders."

Mourinho also felt a little scratched his head when he saw the two contracts handed to him by Kenyon.

Cassano? Italy's famous naughty child has great talent, but also a lot of shortcomings.

The reason why he requested a transfer was simple. This guy who had high hopes from Roma had completely fallen out with the club. He had even offended his former eldest brother Totti, and it was impossible not to leave.

When Roma was able to spend more than 20 million to buy this Bali boy, it was because they took a fancy to his talent.

It's just that they didn't realize the wild and untamable nature of this kid, and by the time they discovered it, it was too late.

This talented time bomb finally went off this time. Cassano refused Roma's contract extension request without any room for negotiation. He needs a more substantial trophy and also needs more attention.

None of these things in Rome could satisfy him, and he could only watch this rebellious boy leave the city of Rome.

It’s just that there are not many teams that can accept the offer now. Apart from Real Madrid’s interest, the only remaining one is Kenyon, a robber who came out halfway. His eager eyes make all those who try to bid feel a little disappointed. The intention of quitting, after all, he has more money than Chelsea, which is indeed quite unreliable.

What Kenyon lacks now is not money, but Mourinho's attitude. Kenyon has been thinking about adding a few significant offensive players to Chelsea, especially those who are already somewhat famous.

Cassano is a good candidate. At least the news effect of this kid is much greater than that of the current Chelsea guys. Moreover, Crespo has not renewed his contract and is very likely to leave next season.

Kenyon chose Anelka as his signing target, seemingly to prevent the Argentine from leaving. After all, it is indeed not that easy to find a good center in European football.

Otherwise, Inter Milan would not have spent a large sum of money to buy Adriano from Parma. Compared with Crespo, Anelka may be more adaptable to the counterattack requirements that Chelsea sometimes need.

Although players like Anelka and Cassano are difficult to discipline, they are not weak in strength. Everyone can play their own role and have a certain degree of popularity. Such players are also a supplement.

It's just that Mourinho didn't nod now. After all, look at the things Cassano has caused in recent years, and there is Anelka, who is more arrogant and unruly than him, and it seems difficult to deal with it.

"Just give me a few days to think about it." Although Mourinho coveted the personal abilities of these two guys, their temperaments did make many coaches quit.

Should we deal with them and add more diversity to Chelsea's lineup to ensure the success of defending the Champions League, or let them go and not have such individual players who can destroy the internal balance of the team? This is really a headache for Mourinho now. Should we have iron discipline or coveted talent? Now even Mourinho himself is almost undecided.

Maybe it's okay to calm down for a few days. Anyway, there are still two weeks before the transfer period starts.

Mourinho still has enough time to consider, hesitate, and calculate the gains and losses.

However, Chelsea's speed of action has indeed made many teams feel pressured. These guys have such good results, but they are still thinking about how to continue to supplement the team's multi-line combat capabilities.

Facing such a team that is extremely greedy for honors, I am afraid that anyone who encounters them will feel a headache.

Before Christmas, this ambitious blue army will still occupy the fifth championship.

If all goes well, they will be the first Premier League team to lift the Club World Cup. The accumulation of trophies will also give these guys greater ambitions to create their own era. . .