i want to be king

Chapter 826 Your good days are over!
"cheers!"

In a restaurant not far from the Etihad Stadium in the center of Manchester, Su Dong rented out the entire restaurant and organized a group dinner for all the players of the first team.

This happened the evening after the game against Birmingham.

Since the team lost the League Cup, there was no game in the middle of the week and another day off.

After learning from previous experience and lessons, Su Dong was afraid that Gareth Barry, Joe Hart and others would go out to drink and make trouble again, so he decided to organize team building, pay for it himself, and invite everyone in the team to have a dinner.

The location is a well-known restaurant in Manchester.

The so-called cheers, in fact, everyone is raising glasses of plain water.

Most of the dishes Su Dong ordered were safe for the players to eat, so after they were served, everyone started to make a move.

There are several English players in the team who seem to have a fly in the ointment feeling, and Su Dong knows it well.

"Joe, Gareth, you can choose wine, but we have agreed that the amount of beer per person is up to one bottle, and it doesn't matter how much it is. You just choose." Su Dong laughed.

Joe Hart and Gareth Barry were immediately happy. They called Adam Johnson, Ji Wen and others, ran to the wine cabinet to choose wine, and threatened to drink soot, but how could this be possible?

This is what Su Dong applied to Guardiola before. After all, there will be no games until the weekend this week.

There is a saying that is true, it is better to be sparse than to be blocked.

Instead of forcing them to quit drinking now, it is better to control them in moderation.

Now force them not to drink, but after dinner, they sneak out to drink again, wouldn't that be even worse?

The bad habit of drinking among English players has been around for a long time, and it will not be changed overnight, or by a single team.

……

After seeing off Joe Hart, Gareth Barry and others, the teenager Sterling came over, holding a glass of juice, and wanted to toast Su Dong, thanking Su Dong for inviting him to the first-team party.

"Actually, you have always been a player in our first team." Su Dong smiled and clinked glasses with him.

As the captain of the team, Su Dong not only has to consider himself, but also the locker room, and even the young players in the team. Sterling is a player that everyone in Manchester City attaches great importance to. It took a lot of effort to snatch it from Liverpool. He is also a very promising young rookie in English football.

The prestige of the captain of the team has never come by himself, nor can it be obtained after the appointment of the head coach. To gain the support and recognition of the locker room and the love of his teammates, this requires the captain to do a lot of things, not only the hard work in games and training, but also the daily management.

Sterling is not yet 16 years old. Although he trains with the first team on weekdays, there are still a few such players who participate in games with the youth team. However, Su Dong invited him to participate in first team activities, which is obviously a kind of recognition and acceptance for him.

Next, as long as he continues to perform well, entering the first team will be a matter of course.

What Su Dong wants is not only Sterling's gratitude and love for him, but also his better integration into the first team.

……

Joe Hart and others brought drinks, and several players in the team who had been drinking also joined in.

Su Dong said that everyone can control the amount of one bottle of beer per person, so they also let go.

The other players got together in twos and threes, chatting about topics they cared about, such as women, such as games, such as...

In the final analysis, professional players are just ordinary people who can play football. Many people are even worse than ordinary people when thinking about problems because they don’t read much. Therefore, discussing how to make money and invest is also a topic that often appears among players.

Su Dong usually doesn't participate in it, more often someone comes to ask him something.

Everyone knows that Su Dong is aloof in world football.

But Su Dong has his own team. Pepe, Marcelo, David Silva and Tony Cross are all Su Dong's loyal team, and they are all closely united around Su Dong.

Di Maria, Moutinho, Sanchez and others also got very close to Su Dong because of Mendes.

This formed the most core force in Manchester City's locker room, the loyal Soviet and Eastern Party.

"Su, is the team really considering introducing Leighton Bynes?" Marcelo suddenly asked with concern.

As the team's main left-back and a player who has achieved brilliant achievements in Bayern, Marcelo has always been controversial, the most important thing is his defense.

In terms of offense, in today's world football, besides Marcelo, who else can play in the position of left back?
But in terms of defense, Marcelo is indeed more hip.

As early as during Bayern, Marcelo's defense was often criticized, and opponents frequently counterattacked his side to attack Bayern.

There is even news that Bayern is willing to sell Marcelo because they want to give players such as Contento, Budstuber, and even the young David Alaba a chance.

Now that I have come to Manchester City, I have only played for a few months. Is it really necessary to introduce Leighton Bynes?
Everton's left back is indeed more comprehensive than Marcelo, and he is a local player, so he naturally has an advantage.

Su Dong could feel Marcelo's nervousness and a little bit of worry, he smiled immediately, stretched out his hand, and patted Marcelo's shoulder vigorously, "Are you so unconfident in yourself?"

Marcelo bared in pain, and argued, "It's not a question of confidence."

"I can tell you with certainty that the team is indeed operating Leighton Baines, but it's not that Guardiola is dissatisfied with you. On the contrary, what he likes most is your type of full-back, so he also wants to introduce Alves on the right."

If Marcelo on the left is a representative of an offensive full-back, then Alves on the right is also a representative of a wing-back, very similar to Marcelo.

"Bridge is really leaving the team?" Pepe asked.

The England left-back actually played very little time. Sometimes Guardiola would rather let Boateng play on the left than give him a chance to play, just because he was dissatisfied with him.

Su Dong saw the concerned looks of his teammates around him, and nodded immediately. He is currently in contact, and the team is also actively operating. Leighton Bynes' transfer fee is not cheap. "

The left-footed general is popular in itself, and he is also an England international. He has the advantage of his local household registration, so the transfer fee is definitely not low.

That's why Marcelo cared.

Isn't the local international footballer brought in with a lot of money just to grab his position?

Su Dong looked at Marcelo with a smile, and encouraged him: "Don't worry, even if Leighton Bynes is really introduced, you will still be the team's main left back, so there is no need to worry too much, but..."

When he said this, Su Dong changed the subject, "You have to remember that the position of the main force is not fixed. If you want to firmly lock your position, you must show stronger strength and better state. Through training to make up for your own shortcomings and weaknesses, and then meet the challenge from any opponent."

Marcelo understood that Su Dong actually wanted to persuade him to strengthen his physical training and defensive training.

This is not to ask him to give up his own advantages, but to make up for his own weaknesses and shortcomings while maintaining his advantages.

"I understand." Marcelo nodded emphatically.

The salary given by Manchester City is very high, and Marcelo can play with friends like Su Dong and Pepe. Marcelo is really unwilling to give up such an opportunity, and he is willing to work hard for it.

Su Dong and Peipei looked at each other and smiled.

Marcelo is actually a carefree person, so he is very lovable in the locker room, but at the same time he is also very heartless, giving him a little pressure can promote his progress. For him, it may not be a bad thing.

"Actually, everyone should be mentally prepared for this."

Now that this is mentioned, Su Dong feels that many things should indeed be discussed.

"In the past, the team had just been reorganized, and the lineup was relatively thin. There was only one main player in many positions, and the competition was seriously insufficient, so everyone could train and play comfortably. But next, this situation will definitely change."

Su Dong said these words not only to the people around him, but also to Joe Hart, Gareth Barry and others.

Today, apart from Bridge, Wright Phillips and Santa Cruz, the three players who have been rumored to leave the team, all Manchester City's first team players are sitting here, and Su Dong's words are also for each of them.

"If the team wants to achieve better results, it must have a strong lineup to cope with multi-line battles. Everyone has seen our situation this season. If we rotate a little, we will lose the League Cup. Otherwise, we will not be able to sit together now."

Everyone also nodded one after another, and several players who had participated in the League Cup showed a look of shame.

"To deal with multi-line battles, the lineup must be strong, and the team must introduce more high-level players. This will inevitably intensify the competition for every position in the first team. Everyone, including me, will face huge competitive pressure."

There are only eleven players in the starting lineup, who will play and who will not, the key depends on the performance and state of the players.

In the past two years, even in the past three years, Manchester City players have lived too comfortably.

The annual salary is high, it doesn't matter if the results are not ideal, and the competitive pressure is also very small. As a result, many players obviously slack off after joining the team, and their performance is very different from that of their respective teams before.

The club has also realized this problem, so it will strengthen signings, improve the team's internal competition, put more pressure on the players, and then drive the improvement of the team's overall performance.

"I can say that the competition within the team will be more intense in the future, but the team will also formulate a more reasonable reward and punishment system, so I hope that everyone here can work harder and play at the best state and level. This is not only helping the team, but also helping ourselves."

Su Dong finished speaking, as for how to choose, it depends on everyone present.

He is just a captain, not their elder master, and there is no need to tell them what to do.

We are all adults, and everyone should be responsible for themselves.

(End of this chapter)