Starting from playing as a defensive midfielder for Real Madrid

Salah's transfer was decided by Mourinho long ago.

After Chelsea played Basel in the first round of the Champions League group stage last September, Mourinho named the team's ace scout to play against Salah.

From initial observations to extensive writing of game analysis reports.

After the scouts were able to confirm that the young Egyptian forward was not a flash in the pan in the Champions League, but had real potential, Mourinho gave the green light to the signing.

After all, Chelsea currently lacks a fast left-footed winger.

De Bruyne can play in the middle or wide, but he cannot fully play his role when playing on the wing. Mourinho believes that the most suitable position for De Bruyne is the eighth position.

It's just that letting De Bruyne play on the wing can better arrange Lampard's starting position.

However, Lampard is also getting older. By next season, he will basically be unable to compete with De Bruyne.

Mourinho plans to straighten De Bruyne in the middle next season and make him the most suitable assistant for Li Ang.

So if Salah can adapt to the Premier League and successfully play by then, then he will be able to coexist with De Bruyne on the court.

There is no fierce positional competition between the two, and Salah has obviously received a clear commitment to training from Mourinho.

So this curly-haired Egyptian boy always had a cheerful expression next to Li Ang these days.

In comparison, Maguire, who is from Sheffield, is a bit shy.

Mourinho was able to pay attention to him because of a very accidental game.

In early December, Holland and Ruiz were sorting out information on lower-league teams that had advanced to the second round of the FA Cup.

Because by early January next year, Chelsea will participate in the third round of the FA Cup.

Of course, Chelsea's coaching staff does not need to make too detailed tactical analysis for opponents in lower leagues, but a simple understanding is still necessary.

Holland is sorting out the goal video materials of the low-level teams that have reached the third round of the FA Cup.

That's why they saw Sheffield United, now sinking in English League One, defeat Cambridge United with two goals.

I just noticed the young center back Maguire who scored a fierce header on behalf of Sheffield United.

What Mourinho saw after that was the game data and various information about Maguire compiled by Holland and Ruiz.

“He entered the first team of Sheffield United at the age of 17, made his debut for the first team at the age of 18, and was voted the best player of the match on his debut.

In the year when he just turned 19, Maguire represented Sheffield United in the English League One. He played a total of 56 times throughout the season, scoring 1 goal and 5 assists. That season, he was selected by the BBC into the 11th place in the English League One. -The best team of the 12th season.

Maguire played 53 times on behalf of Sheffield United in the 2012-13 season and scored 5 goals. As of this year, Maguire has been named the best player in Sheffield United by fans for two consecutive years..."

When Mourinho saw Maguire's game statistics and information for the first time, his first reaction was that it was a pity.

This kind of central defender who is both young and durable, and was able to be elected the best player of the game on his debut in the English Championship at the age of 18, is simply full of potential.

It's a pity that he stayed at Sheffield United, which was relegated from the English Championship to English League One. This was undoubtedly a waste of his talent.

However, looking at his subsequent performance in the English League One, it shows that this young man is not willing to sink.

He still wants to help his hometown team return to the British Championship or even the Premier League.

It's a pity that the current Sheffield United cannot bear his fighting spirit and ambition at all.

Unless we can develop another outstanding young high center forward.

In this way, with two talents in front and back, Sheffield United may still have hope of returning to the British Championship this season.

But with only Maguire as a talented defender and little investment, it would be quite difficult to upgrade.

Mourinho was immediately interested when he saw Maguire's current height of nearly 1.95 meters, his solid body statistics, and what Holland wrote about Maguire's good ball-playing skills.

Of course, this does not mean that if you introduce Maguire now, you will immediately let him stay on the team and give him a chance to play.

Maguire's current strength is not yet at that level, but his development potential is great.

After all, he is physically strong, strong in confrontation, and has dominant untapped talent in high-altitude defense and set-piece offense.

In addition, he has adapted to the English League One and has good ball-playing skills. In the second half of the season, he will be transferred to a mid-table team in the English Championship to practice and improve a lot.

Wait until this summer window to take a look at his growth progress. If appropriate, then...

Mourinho didn't hesitate at all when he made his decision.

In mid-December last year, he directly asked the club to make contact with Sheffield United.

After obtaining Sheffield United's consent, he quickly called Maguire and asked him and his parents to meet at Sheffield United.

Maguire and his parents were extremely excited after Mourinho personally came to persuade him.

After all, Maguire is just a central defender in English League One, and some of his fame is limited to English League One and the Championship.

And who is Mourinho? The number one coach in football today!

Such a famous coach actually came to their home in person to tell Maguire:

You kid really has potential, come with me! From now on, it won't be a big deal if you can make a big splash and lead the British team!

How can a 20-year-old young man stand the test of such praise?

So this deal didn't take much time, and Sheffield United also felt that it had delayed Maguire's future, so they let it go with half gratitude and half reluctance.

Of course, this is also due to the fact that Chelsea loaned two youth players to Sheffield United, plus paid a transfer fee of 3 million pounds for Maguire~

After acquiring Salah and Maguire, Chelsea made no further signings.

After all, there is no shortage of players in Chelsea's first team now, and the bench is also thick. Buying two young players can be said to be for the future, and the veterans in the first team also understand it.

If he spends huge sums of money to buy two top-notch football players, then the locker room will not be in chaos and there will be rumors.

Mourinho directly handed over the two newly arrived young people to Li Ang, who was banging iron in the training base.

Both Salah and Maguire felt flattered at first.

Because Li Ang was very enthusiastic and friendly to them, he took them to guide them in training, and always invited them to dinner.

But after spending two or three days together and getting acquainted with each other, this feeling of being flattered naturally turned into closeness and admiration.

Of course, Li Ang is a good choice for a big brother. He has no superstar airs and is easy-going. Young players who are new to the club will subconsciously get closer to him.

Both of them also listened carefully to Li Ang's guidance and persuasion during training.

For example, Li Ang asked Salah to practice his right foot more, not to stick to the ball too much, and to seek more cooperation with his teammates.

Let Maguire not blindly seek confrontation and weight gain, and let him reasonably modify his diet plan under the advice of the club's team doctor.

Do as much flexibility and balance exercises as possible while maintaining a healthy weight...

This kind of advice spoke directly to the hearts of the two of them, which made them feel that Li Ang was really a good person.

Well, a kind and patient big brother~

On the afternoon of January 5th, when Chelsea went to challenge Coventry away from home for the third round of the FA Cup this season.

Li Ang, the good brother of most of Chelsea's young players, also went with the team.

Because the opponent Coventry is only a League One team.

So today, except for the two main players of the first team, Li Ang and David Luiz, who are on the bench, the other players in Chelsea's game roster are rotations and youth training.

Of course, including the two new players Maguire and Salah.

Among them, Maguire is on standby, and Salah is the starter.

In the 90-minute fierce battle, facing the shrinking defense of Coventry, Torres, who had not been given a chance to start for a long time, directly performed a hat trick!

Van Ginkel made great passes and shots.

Salah did not score, but he used his breakthrough ability to provide an assist for Torres in the second half of the game.

After easily taking a two-goal lead in the first half, Mourinho directly replaced Gary Cahill with Maguire.

Facing familiar League One opponents, even though Maguire has not fully adjusted with his new teammates, he still showed his defensive strengths.

The Chelsea fans watched Maguire, who was in the penalty area and had a 100% success rate in the title challenge.

I am also very satisfied with the club’s investment and signing.

With this confrontation and header ability, even if Maguire fails to successfully grow to the top level of the Premier League.

But it seems that there is no problem as a regular rotating central defender of the team. It is perfect to use it to support those heavy centers!

After inspecting the goods and giving them a beating with a Cowan hammer, Chelsea successfully returned to London in triumph.

The next day, January 6, except for some veterans of the first team who continued to rest, most of Chelsea's young players arrived at the training base to report.

Two days later, Chelsea went away to challenge the Hammers West Ham United in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-finals.

In another EFL Cup semi-final first leg match that ended the day before, Manchester City defeated their local rivals Manchester United 4-1.

After the game ended on the spot, the pro-Manchester City media directly published the news headline that they would meet Chelsea again in the English League Cup final.

This kind of news is very disrespectful to Chelsea's rivals West Ham United.

Mourinho also expressed his criticism of the media at the pre-match press conference.

"Yes, West Ham United are in some trouble now. They are relatively low in the league table, but we all know that West Ham United is a very difficult Premier League team.

We will not be so disrespectful to our opponents like those media, and this is the home game of West Ham United. The players of West Ham United will undoubtedly fight for the reputation of the team and the fans.

We come to Upton Park with 100% respect, it will be a difficult game and I believe we will all go all out to bring a wonderful visual feast to the fans..."

Mourinho's words made the fans and players of West Ham United feel much better.

Of course, Mourinho did not lie. He and his players did come to West Ham United's home court with 100% respect for West Ham United.

So much so that as soon as the game started that night, Chelsea spared no effort to press forward and tried their best to attack West Ham United's midfield defense!

In the first five minutes of the game, Chelsea had already sped up the pace of the game and fired two threatening shots.

Allardyce, the head coach of West Ham United, was completely numb!

Emotions: Is this the respect Chelsea tries its best to do? !

Forget it, Allardyce would rather Mourinho didn't respect his team at all!

It would be best if you let your guard down carelessly and let your team threaten to counterattack a dozen more times.

However, Mourinho has made up his mind today, saying that if he wants to respect West Ham United, he must respect West Ham United to the end!

So in the first half, when the game didn't even finish for half an hour, Chelsea scored two goals like a chopping of melons and vegetables!

This time, the scene at Upton Park was reduced to the cheers of Chelsea fans.

Compared with the previous encounter in the league, West Ham United lost a lot of troops due to the devilish schedule before and after the Christmas holiday, and its strength has declined significantly.

Previously relying on a stubborn counterattack and some bad luck, West Ham United came back and reversed Tottenham and entered this year's League Cup semi-finals.

But today Chelsea completely overwhelmed West Ham United in the midfield!

Li Ang and Matic pressed into West Ham United's half again. As soon as Chelsea lost the ball, they called on their teammates to start a counterattack.

Not to mention West Ham's counterattack, their ball possession rate was only a pitiful 15% throughout the first half.

This is simply a disaster for the home fans of West Ham United!

Because what they witnessed with their own eyes was just a massacre by Chelsea against West Ham United.

After Hazard scored another goal in the final stoppage time of the first half, West Ham United's players no longer had the spirit to fight back.

In the 52nd minute of the second half, Ibrahimovic scored twice.

The subsequent games can be described as the process of the entire Chelsea team helping Ibrahimovic "put on the hat".

After Lukaku scored his second goal of the game, Ibrahimovic finally took Li Ang's pass and volleyed the goal in the 83rd minute of the second half!

In the end, Chelsea defeated West Ham United 6-1 away from home!

In fact, if it weren't for Ibrahimovic's hat-trick, Chelsea wouldn't have scored so many goals.

The goal conceded also showed Chelsea's "embarrassment" towards West Ham United.

After losing the first league game at the beginning of the year, Chelsea won two consecutive victories in two domestic cup competitions in England.

In an interview with Sky Sports after the game, Li Ang only gave his response in a pointed way.

"Well, see you in the EFL Cup final!"