Starting With Real Madrid

"GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!"

"At the critical moment, Rakitic finishes it with a decisive strike!"

"Two to one, a dramatic win!"

As commentator Andy Gray shouted in excitement, Manchester City's players ran frantically from the pitch straight to the away fans in the stands to celebrate. Many of them screamed into the live broadcast cameras, releasing the emotions that had built up through ninety minutes of intense battle.

It was an eruption of passion after a long, hard-fought game!

"Once again, his ability to adapt on the fly has proven decisive."

"Three substitutions, and all of them paid off."

"Especially Sturridge, who made the decisive breakthrough."

"From the slow-motion replay, we can clearly see that Chelsea's defenders were focused on preventing him from cutting inside because of his left foot."

"Whether it was Robben before or Sturridge after coming on, both wingers favored cutting inside from the right. That conditioned Ashley Cole and Lampard to expect the same move from Sturridge."

"But in the end, the England winger suddenly cut to the byline and sent in a reverse cutback with his right foot."

"That completely disrupted Chelsea's defensive setup!"

"Both Sturridge and Rakitic were second-half substitutes."

"His in-game adjustments once again stunned everyone."

"I have to admit, he's a true top-level tactical master!"

…

Gao Shen jumped high in front of the away team's technical area, raised both arms and shouted, cheering for the players on the field.

Moments like these were the most thrilling and addictive in football for him.

But ironically, from the perspective of a professional manager, he would never want his team to go through this kind of thrill regularly.

The risk was simply too high.

As the head coach, especially of a top club, he could never allow the team to constantly be living on the edge.

It's like how many fans miss Manchester United's famous comeback wins during their three-peat years. But if you asked Ferguson, he'd probably say, "Who the hell wants to come from behind in every match?"

People only remember United's miraculous turnarounds. They forget how many other teams fell short trying to do the same.

From a professional perspective, a manager's core responsibility is to minimize risk. Ideally, the team should win every match with minimal effort. That requires thorough study of opponents, tactical superiority, and constant improvement of the squad.

The result? You win all the time, win too easily, and eventually, winning becomes boring.

But what can you do?

If Manchester City kept winning in such dramatic fashion, even with this current lineup, Gao Shen would probably get sacked eventually.

Real Madrid wouldn't keep waiting on him to return, right?

Gao Shen was enjoying the emotional high of surviving this game, but at the same time, he sincerely hoped he wouldn't have to go through it again.

It was a strange contradiction, the more he thought about it.

…

In the end, Manchester City defeated Chelsea 2-1 away from home.

When Di Matteo came over to shake hands with Gao Shen, the frustration on his face was obvious.

And rightly so. What else could he have done in his first game as manager against such a powerful Manchester City?

To be fair, Di Matteo had done his best, especially defensively. He really gave it everything.

As an assistant coach, he wasn't one of Villas-Boas' men. He had a clear understanding of Chelsea's internal issues. After taking charge, he immediately reached an understanding with veterans like Lampard, Terry, and Drogba.

He set up the team to defend, hoping to at least hold Manchester City to a draw.

Winning wasn't necessary. A point would have been good enough.

But in the end, despite their efforts, they couldn't stop Manchester City.

"You did a good job," Gao Shen said sincerely.

Di Matteo smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Still lost."

"Winning and losing is one thing, but your performance and effort will be recognized by the fans. Look, they didn't boo," Gao Shen pointed toward the Stamford Bridge stands.

He was right.

Strangely enough, when Villas-Boas was in charge, the fans booed constantly if the team played poorly, especially in a loss. But tonight, there were no boos.

After all, fans aren't stupid. They can see who's trying and who's not.

"Keep it up. Don't give up," Gao Shen encouraged.

"Thanks."

…

Manchester City's schedule was extremely tight.

After the match at Stamford Bridge, the team took a short break, had dinner at a London hotel, then flew back to Manchester overnight.

The next morning, the squad held a recovery session at the Carrington training complex.

Fans and media familiar with Gao Shen knew just how much he valued these recovery sessions, and the results had always been excellent.

In the afternoon, the team held their annual Christmas dinner at Carrington.

Unlike last year, this year's schedule was so packed that there was no time for elaborate celebrations. They kept it simple, but the traditional gift-giving session remained.

The club handed out its usual gifts, while Gao Shen prepared a distinctly Chinese-style present for the team, all arranged by Su Qing.

Unlike previous years when he handed out the gifts himself, this time, Gao Shen and Su Qing did it together.

All the players brought their families and partners to the dinner, making the atmosphere even livelier.

The club didn't hold back either. Given the team's outstanding performance this year, the gifts and bonuses were generous.

Moreover, during the trip to Abu Dhabi, the Emir of Abu Dhabi—also the President of the UAE and Mansour's brother—would meet with the Manchester City delegation at the royal palace.

This was a treatment they had never received before.

After the dinner, the entire team, along with their families and partners, boarded a bus to Manchester Airport.

Etihad Airways had already prepared a private charter for the team, which flew them directly to Abu Dhabi.

Arrival was scheduled around 11 p.m.

A luxury bus awaited them at the airport, taking them straight to the most luxurious palace hotel in the world, specially reserved by Mansour for Manchester City.

As Champions League winners, Manchester City entered directly into the semi-finals of the Club World Cup. Their opponent was AFC Champions League winners Al Sadd from Qatar. The match was scheduled for the evening of the 14th, giving City some time to prepare.

The morning after arriving in Abu Dhabi, the team held another training session, then had free time.

For Manchester City, the Club World Cup in Abu Dhabi felt more like a leisure trip.

A team like Al Sadd posed no real threat. The only real challenge was the Copa Libertadores winners, Santos.

Led by Brazilian starlets Neymar and Ganso, Santos had significant quality. Former City player Elano was also part of the squad. But what caught Gao Shen's eye was another player he hadn't noticed before.

Felipe Anderson.

The 18-year-old Brazilian winger was still a bench player at Santos. He had not made a name for himself and hadn't even broken into Brazil's youth national teams. Hard to imagine that he would eventually shine at Lazio and attract attention across Europe. At his peak, clubs even offered €70 to €80 million for him.

And now?

Gao Shen looked him up—his value was still under €1 million.

But that wasn't surprising. Brazil had no shortage of talented players like him.

Take Ganso for example. Just this past summer, his valuation had reached €55 million, and he was hyped as the next Kaka.

Santos even took AC Milan to FIFA, accusing them of tapping up Ganso. The case stirred up quite a bit of controversy.

But once the transfer window closed, the news faded.

There had been no media buzz about Ganso for a long time. He'd stopped attracting attention in Europe.

As Simon Kuper wrote in Soccernomics, most club transfers are completely blind. Everyone just chases the latest hype, buying whoever's hot. It's totally irrational.

From what Gao Shen remembered, Ganso later moved to São Paulo, then Sevilla in La Liga, where he failed to impress. By then, he'd already been forgotten, so Gao Shen didn't even recall the details clearly.

In the end, Ganso turned out to be just another ordinary player.

But for now, in this Santos side, he and Neymar were still the two brightest stars in Brazil.

Felipe Anderson?

Who knew this guy would turn out to be a gem?

As for Manchester City's next opponent, Al Sadd, their squad had even fewer recognizable names.

Gao Shen glanced over their roster and recognized only one player—Niang.

His first reaction was the former AC Milan striker, but something felt off.

A closer look revealed it wasn't the same player.

Al Sadd's Niang was Mamadou Niang. He and AC Milan's future forward Mbaye Niang were both from Senegal, but Mamadou was born in 1979 and Mbaye in 1994. One came from Matam, Senegal, the other from Meulan, France. The two had no relation whatsoever.

That gave Gao Shen some relief.

Even if it had been Mbaye Niang, he wouldn't have been afraid. But he would have taken him more seriously.

For Manchester City, the only real challenge was Santos. Gao Shen was eager to observe Neymar up close.

Neymar's talent and potential were undeniable, but he and his father were very shrewd.

Born in 1992, Neymar became eligible to transfer abroad at 18, under Brazilian FA regulations. But despite being a generational talent, why had he never left for Europe?

Was there no interest?

Impossible.

Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Manchester United...

Every top club in Europe had been chasing him.

So why hadn't he moved?

Because they were waiting for the best possible offer.

Brazilian media outlet Bianlu once reported that Real Madrid offered €45 million for Neymar, with a salary of €6 million per year, and planned to sign him in 2012.

But Real Madrid never confirmed it.

Why?

From what Gao Shen had heard, Neymar's camp turned it down.

So why was the offer leaked?

Because they wanted to push other clubs to offer more.

Many clubs had already backed out. Bayern, Arsenal, and other big teams.

Not every club could afford a player like that.

(To be continued.)