i want to be king

Chapter 101
On the evening of August [-], [-], at the Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon.

Su Dong was dressed in dry casual clothes, and sat in the stands of the stadium with all the teammates of the first team who were not included in the game squad, watching the game in full swing in the stadium.

This is Sporting Lisbon's first game of the season.

Head coach Boloni formed a three-four-three formation, with a small diamond-shaped position in the midfield, and the frontcourt tridents are new aids Tonito, Nikule and Quaresma.

Yes, the two best forwards of last season, Jadl sat on the bench, and Su Dong simply sat in the stands.

From this, it is not difficult to see the status of Nikulei in Bologna's mind.

Don't look at Jadr's majesty last season, but as long as there is a chance, Nikule will replace him in minutes.

He is the most valued and most trusted center by coach Boloni.

Su Dong was a little envious of Nikulei.

Looking at the preparations and warm-ups throughout the summer, it looks more like Boloni's preparations to help Nikule integrate into the team.

At the end of last season, Boloni focused on rehearsing the trident of Ronnie, Sudong and Quaresma, but now it has become Tonito, Nikule and Quaresma, and Ronnie is sitting on the bench.

Obviously, Nikulei replaced Sudong's position on the Boloni tactical puzzle.

Apart from envy, Su Dong was more dissatisfied.

Because Nikulei's performance is not ideal, it can even be said that he is not suitable for playing a single center.

In the face of Materazzi and Cordoba, a tall and fast central defender combination, Nikule couldn't even hold the ball.

Tonito and Quaresma on the two wings were also frozen by Inter Milan's two full-backs Koko and Zanetti, and did not perform very well, which led to a deadlock for Sporting Lisbon on the pitch.

The three-four-three formation looks like it is going to attack, but in fact the offense is a mess.

Not long after the second half, Boloni replaced Tonito with Ronnie.

In this way, the tactical intentions of the Romanian coach are even more obvious.

He just wanted to use the trident, but it just turned Sudong into Nikulei.

But the effect is still very poor.

Until No. 70 minutes, Jardl replaced Quaresma on the field, but the offense still did not improve.

Fortunately, Inter Milan also did not perform well, and Vieri and Caron did not play a big enough threat. In the end, the two sides shook hands at the Alvalade Stadium and made a [-]-[-] draw.

Sporting Lisbon is not happy at all for failing to score a goal at home.

Especially when the team's offensive performance is lackluster.

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"It's not that I'm saying, the guy playing football is not on the same channel as us."

After the game, when he returned home, Ronnie was so angry that he yelled at Nikulei in front of Su Dong.

"Several times, I have made enough obvious hints and shouts, but he has not given me any feedback. Quaresma and I have no idea what he is thinking. He never tells us what he thinks. The same is true for Tonito."

"We didn't know anything about him and the most ridiculous thing was that the manager asked us to pass him the ball."

"Then the question is, how do we pass the ball to Materazzi and Cordoba? What kind of ball? Can he catch it?"

Facing Ronnie's soul questioning three times, Su Dong could only sigh.

He knew very early on that what Boloni valued most was Nikulei, and he was also mentally prepared.

But in fact, when he was not selected for the squad, he was in a really bad mood.

He clearly realized that the reason why Boloni valued him at the end of last season was only because Boloni was not selected and his most trusted Nikulei was injured.

Now that Nikulei is back, Su Dong is naturally no longer his first choice.

It was also at this moment that Su Dong truly realized the indifference and cruelty of professional football.

There is really no warmth at all!

However, today's Su Dong is no longer the Su Dong of earlier.

Even if he didn't mention his impression among Sporting Lisbon fans, even if it was a contract, Boloni couldn't throw him on the stands or on the bench, so Su Dong was holding back his energy now, just waiting to see when Boloni would let him on.

He's never been a guy to throw in the towel.

As long as he is given the opportunity to play, he will do everything possible to seize this opportunity.

Su Dong believed that as long as he performed well, even if Boloni wanted to suppress him, it would be difficult to suppress him.

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In the middle of the week, the Portuguese Super Cup is held at the Bofim Stadium in Setúbal.

Defending double champions Sporting Lisbon face Porto led by Jose Mourinho.

Boloni adopted a two-forward tactic this time, Jadr and Nikulei started together, and the team returned to the four-four-two formation.

Obviously, Boloni hopes that the team can continue the performance of last season, continue to suppress Porto, and make a good start for the new season.

Su Dong entered the squad this time and sat on the bench.

The game was very bumpy, especially at the end of the first half, central defender Beto fouled and was sent off directly with a red card, which caused Sporting Lisbon to have one less player to fight in the second half.

Porto launched a fierce attack on Sporting Lisbon in the next 45 minutes, and finally defeated Sporting Lisbon [-]-[-] with the goals of Delle and Postiga.

……

After the game, Sporting Lisbon, which has performed poorly in two consecutive games, was severely criticized.

Bear the brunt of the head coach Boloni.

The Romanian coach said in an interview with the media after the game that the season has just begun and the team is still running in.

"Sudong? Yes, he performed very well against Porto in the final of the Portuguese Cup last season, but I have to consider that he is only 17 years old, and we have one less player on the field than our opponents. We need more stability at this time."

But Boloni's argument is unconvincing.

Su Dong's agent Mendes said in an interview with the Morning Post reporter that Su Dong is ready for the new season.

"Since finishing the Portuguese Cup final in May, Su Dong has been training secretly in Madeira Islands. He has worked harder than anyone else to improve his own strength, and the coaching staff speak highly of him. He has made great progress. He is eager to get the opportunity to play and show his training results to the fans."

Mendes also mentioned the current situation of Sporting Lisbon, and he believes that the team's offense does have problems.

"Suggestion? I will suggest, why not consider Su Dong?"

Mendes' words were more tactful, but he also vaguely pointed out the problem of Sporting Lisbon.

That is, in two consecutive games, Su Dong did not get 1 minute of playing time, and Nikule, who played 180 minutes, performed in a mess. Then how did he serve as the starter?
After the Morning Post published the interview with Mendes, Boloni immediately found Su Dong.

The Romanian coach didn't mention anything about news reports. He just told Su Dong that he has been paying attention to Su Dong's training situation and recognized his progress.

"You know, whether it is against Inter Milan or against Porto, it is a crucial game of the season, and there is no room for loss, so I want to use a more mature lineup and style of play."

Su Dong couldn't comment on the coach's formation in person. He just solemnly stated that he was ready.

"I feel that my state is adjusted very well. As long as I can play, I will definitely not let you down!"

But even so, Boloni still didn't make a promise, but said that he would arrange Su Dong to play at the right time.

Obviously, he still believed in Nikulei.

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On the weekend, the second leg of the third round of the UEFA Champions League qualifiers.

Sporting Lisbon once again lined up a three-four-three lineup to play away against Inter Milan.

Boloni did not play conservatively, he wanted to attack, because he knew that in the case of zero to zero in the first leg, as long as an away goal, Inter Milan would be passive.

But sometimes, things are just so weird.

The more eager to score goals, the greater the pressure, but the distance from scoring goals is even further away.

Recoba, the super talent from Uruguay, put on a fantastic performance in the first half, giving Inter Milan a two-goal lead with one pass and one shot.

There was no way for Boloni to retreat. He replaced Jardel early in the second half and tried to attack wildly, but failed to achieve any results.

In the end, the away game ended with a score of two to two.

With a total score of zero to two, Sporting Lisbon was eliminated by Inter Milan and forced to play in the UEFA Cup.

When the news came back from Milan to Lisbon, the whole of Portugal was in mourning.

There are two teams in the Portuguese Super League this season, Sporting Lisbon and Boavista.

As a result, both teams failed in the third qualifying round and failed to enter the first round of the group stage.

Among them, Boavista suffered a loss in the summer transfer, and it is understandable to lose to Auxerre in Ligue [-]. As the defending champion of the Portuguese Super League, Sporting Lisbon faced Inter Milan, and it is also a matter of course.

The crux of the problem is that Sporting Lisbon played too weakly.

Especially the team's offense.

Why still Nikolai?

This time, not only the Portuguese media and Sporting Lisbon fans couldn't sit still, but even several veterans in the team were slightly dissatisfied.

Captain Barbosa said in an interview that the team's offense is very problematic, which needs to be resolved as soon as possible, because the Portuguese Super League is about to start.

Albertini, who has just joined, also publicly stated in an interview with the media that the unfavorable offense is the main reason why Sporting Lisbon lost the Super Cup and the Champions League qualifiers successively.

"It's a huge blow to the morale of the team."

Everyone knows that Albertini joined Sporting Lisbon because he wanted to play in the Champions League, but now he has stopped in the qualifiers, which is really hard for him to accept.

More importantly, after playing Inter Milan, the team's top star Jardl angrily criticized the head coach Boloni for nepotism, and publicly stated that he would leave Sporting Lisbon and switch to the Premier League Bolton.

"Maybe it's not a good time, but I want more credit."

In an instant, the defending champions Sporting Lisbon fell apart.

(End of this chapter)