860 Red Cloth

Raúl González had some regrets lately. If he had retired a year later, he might have been able to take the club's 10th European Champions Cup as a gift for his retirement. Now, he was simply the manager of Real Madrid, mainly responsible for communication between the senior management and players. As such, when he was with the team, he felt more like a player who simply wore a tuxedo.

When the team was training, he just stood on the sidelines and watched with Coach Michels. He usually did not express his opinion unless Michels asked for it.

Now, he had more to say.

"Michels, for tomorrow's game..." Raúl started to frown.

"Do you want to ask me how sure I am of winning?" Michels smiled. "I really don't know."

"No, I am worried that Nottingham Forest's playstyle will restrain the style we were excellent in." Raúl gently shook his head.

Michels hesitated for a little and said, "It's a problem, but that is what Real Madrid's football is all about. No matter what opponents we face, we will use our usual style to contest. What suggestions do you have, Raúl?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

Raúl had no good advice. He shook his head and stopped talking.

"Our scouts came up with the latest information about Nottingham Forest. They used all-out tactics in the first half of the FA Cup final against Tottenham Hotspur, and I think that might have something to do with us." Michels was still talking to himself. He suddenly turned his head and looked at Raúl. "Maybe Twain wants to go on the offense with us in Bernabéu."

Raúl, who was focusing on watching the team's training, was taken aback by his claims.

"Go on the offense against us?" As soon as the remark left his mouth, he started laughing. "That's crazy."

There were few teams in the world that dared to play against Real Madrid in Bernabéu. Barcelona might be one of them, but Nottingham Forest definitely wasn't.

"I don't think that's likely. Nottingham Forest's playstyle is defensive counterattack, and Coach Twain has always believed that championships are won from defense. He can't use offense against us in such an important game. A defensive counterattack has high odds, though."

Michels smiled at Raúl and said, "Why didn't you choose to be the head coach after you retired, Raúl?"

"Me?" When asked so suddenly, Raúl wasn't sure how to respond. "I don't think I'm fit to coach."

"Not as a head coach… You can be a youth training supervisor. If you want to do it, I can recommend the idea to the head manager."

"It's not the difference between a head coach or a coach." Raúl thought about it before saying, "At Real Madrid, I think it's too tiring to be a coach."

He didn't continue, but Michels knew what he was trying to say and silently nodded.

Raúl mentioned the key point. One should not be deceived by the fact that Michels had done a good job at Real Madrid over the years. He had always been subjected to checks and balances at the top of the club, which was a tradition in most Spanish clubs. In an elite team like Real Madrid, the restrictions on a head coach were especially high. For an introduction and transfer of a player, he only had the right to advise but not decide. There were too many factors for a club like Real Madrid to buy a person to consider. Hence, the competitive aspect did not feel as important.

In the management dressing room, the manager's actions were limited. Dressing room factions were inevitable for any big team. In this aspect, the Premier League managers were better than them because the Premier League managers had absolute authority. The factions in the dressing room did not triumph over a head coach. The authority of the Premier League managers came from their football tradition and the support of the club's senior management. The players were in awe of the head coaches like a bunch of kids under their captain. The coach of La Liga would have it worse. If they had a tiff with any faction in the training room, his authority would be greatly challenged. Coupled with the small actions behind the backs of the top management group, the head coach was sandwiched between the higher management and the players. Both sides could easily be unhappy with him.

Michels was doing well at Real Madrid because he met a good general manager—Valdano. Thinking of the former, Mijatović, any head coach under him would be tortured. Valdano knew fair authority delegation would benefit the club, so he did not pick on the transfer list the head coach propose. That created the revival of Real Madrid.

Otherwise, this team might still be continuously stuck in the top eight, which would be the ultimate joke.

Both Michels and Raúl had put these problems behind them since they did not need to have such troubles now. Otherwise, they would not have been able to reach the Champions League final. The next game was an opportunity to prove Real Madrid's value to the world and for Florentino to rebuild his Real Madrid empire. Such a game could not be lost.

※※※

Twain did not have time to complain to others about the chores of a head coach. He was busy taking the team through the tactical drills of free kicks. For such an important game, the free-kick was not something to be neglected. Twain had predicted that the match in Bernabéu with Real Madrid would create tremendous pressure, so perhaps free kicks would be the key to crack Real Madrid's door.

After all, there was an excellent free kicker on their team—Gareth Bale.

Chris Kerslake was explaining the coordination in a free kick on the field. The coaching team designed many variations of strategies behind a free-kick, hoping it would be useful during the game.

The team was training at Bernabéu stadium, which was a suitable training ground. The turf in Bernabéu was better than the city stadium, but there was no obvious difference. On top of that, Twain could not guarantee that the workers would not pour too much water onto the field on the second day.

The reporters had been ousted by him. The team's training content could not be known to outsiders. He also emphasized that he did not want Bernabéu to have any equipment to film their training content. He knew this was home ground for Real Madrid, so it was difficult to ensure that Real Madrid would not play tricks. His repeated reminders and persistence had angered the staff at the Bernabéu, who, in their eyes, thought Twain was questioning their work ethic. Real Madrid was a club that valued its reputation, so they made it clear that the club was dismissive of doing such a thing.

Twain shamelessly and reluctantly gave up his persistent pursuit.

He had a typical petty man's heart. He would do it in his own city's stadium, so there was no reason other clubs would not do the same.

Real Madrid did not place any cameras or spies in Bernabéu stadium. As per what the staff member said, the great Real Madrid was dismissive of despicable means to help the team to victory.

Twain was still looking into the stands, searching for suspicious people.

※※※

At the press conference that afternoon, Twain was besieged by the Spanish media.

The Spanish and English media were divided. The Spanish media asked questions that would embarrass Twain, such as, "The outside world is optimistic that Real Madrid will win the title. Will you be affected by this prediction?"

Another example was, "The outside criticism of Nottingham Forest's football is conservative and utilitarian. Will you consider changing that?""

The Spanish media had apparently studied Tony Twain. They knew he was a man with a bad temper and no filter. As such, they deliberately provoked him to see the effects, which would allow them to obtain ground-breaking news.

Their research was not professional. They only wanted to provoke Twain. They had forgotten that he was not a porcupine, which would roll up as self-defense against such a siege. He was a cunning wolf. If one dared to provoke him, one needed to get ready to take his anger.

For the first question, Twain was dismissive. "Do you mean Real Madrid would win as long as the outside world was optimistic about them? Then, we don't have to play in the Champions League final. Let the outside world announce that Real Madrid won the title, OK? " Twain opened his hand and coldly stared at the Spanish journalists.

This rebuttal put the Spanish journalists in a bad spot.

As for the second question, Twain was surprised. "Why should I change this situation? I can win the championship now, so why should I give up the championship to satisfy the wishes of the outside world? I think... No one with a normal brain would make that choice, would they?"

When he said that, he stared at the reporter asking the question with a smile. It was as he was saying, "Only someone as abnormal as you could ask such a stupid question, Mr. Reporter."

The Spanish journalist was embarrassed and finally sat down.

"You don't have to play well to win a championship, Twain." Another reporter stood up.

Where was the press conference? This was clearly the Champions League version of the debate wars.

"I don't have to take a more risky approach to win the championship. Besides, in my opinion, playing well is equal to the runner-up." Twain was intentionally provoking the Spanish media, who were arrogant because of their home-ground advantage.

Fortunately, Michels had finished his press conference beforehand. Otherwise, if the two people sat together, there might have been another conflict brewing.

"Do you mean your tactics tomorrow will be defensive counterattacks?" a middle-aged bald man stood up and asked. His face was slightly pale. He was trying to link the question to Nottingham Forest's second-day tactics.

Twain knew what he was trying to do. There was no way he would leak information on his strategies for the next game during this chaos. "That's not certain. Maybe tomorrow I'm going for a full-on attack or defense." Twain showed his hands again. "Don't you think I'm going to do defensive counterattack? Oh my, I think it'll be interesting to fight offense with Real Madrid..."

"Don't you want a championship, Mr. Twain?" The middle-aged man, without changing his face, continued to argue with Twain.

"Of course I want to. Why wouldn't I?"

"But you said that playing well was the runner-up..." The man who thought he triumphed over Twain in this discussion started to laugh. Around him, many people started to laugh as well. They were all Spanish reporters.

In their minds, it was a dead cycle. They thought, Twain thinks he can't win a championship if he plays well, but he also wants to win the title. He is definitely playing conservative football, but he does not want to admit to playing conservative football and says he's going to play offense against Real Madrid. So, let's see how he talks this out!

They did not think Twain would suddenly relax and speak without hesitation. "I'm confident that we will win, even if we go on offense against Real Madrid."

As soon as that was said, the journalists present, whether they were from Spain or England, were taken aback.

A reporter wanted to continue asking questions, but Twain stood up and signaled for the press conference to end.

"Mr. Twain..."

"Mr. Twain, please wait!"

"Coach Twain..."

"Hey, Tony!"

A group of reporters panicked. What were they doing before? After all that arguing with Twain, all they got, in the end, was useless information.

※※※

Chris Kerslake was sitting in his room, sipping fragrant coffee, and flipping through the newspaper. He knew nothing about Spanish. Luckily, there were several pictures, so it was better than nothing to pass time.

"Half football, half bullfighting, the Spaniards' hobbies are really limited…"

The assistant coach muttered to himself. He suddenly heard a soft noise from the lock. He alertly looked up and stared at the door. He saw the door slowly slide, which opened a gap. A hand reached in. Its fingers displayed a few stances, which were followed by a quick shake, magically throwing out a scarlet cloak.

The door opened. Twain proudly raised his head and rumba danced on the way into the room. He was humming "one dada two dada" in rhythm. His strong and firm body spun on the same spot for two rounds before ending with an aggressive pose. "Ah! Come! Madrid Bull!"

The poor assistant coach jumped forward. The coffee from his mouth flew onto the newspaper in his hands and the table. Some coffee flowed down the corners of his mouth and chin, dripping and splashing onto a picture of Ribery. A drop of black coffee fell on his white teeth, making his picture look like he was missing a tooth.

Chris Kerslake scrambled to wipe the coffee off the side of his mouth and chin. As he used the newspaper to wipe the table, he asked, "Did you go watch bullfighting this afternoon?"

"No, I went to the press conference and bought this on the way back. " Twain shook the cloak in his hand as it made a loud noise.

"Tourist souvenirs, huh?"

Twain shook his head and smiled. "Isn't the souvenir the Champions League trophy? This cloth has its special use." After saying that, he did another signature move of a bullfighter. He waved to his left and right as he elegantly spun around, mimicking an angry bull passing by him. The wind created by his waves blew Kerslake's hair. "How do you feel about my progress?"

"I've never seen such an old bullfighter." Chris Kerslake finally cleared himself of the mess. He looked at Twain and laughed. "What the hell are you going to do with it?"

"Secret, it is a secret." Twain winked at him as he cheerfully chuckled.

※※※

PS, Words from the author,

There were several depressing feedback left in the forums recently, stating that the book Godfather was coming to the end. I am grateful for the friends who are concerned about Godfather, however, this simply makes me not know whether I should cry or laugh. Before finishing this volume, I still have another two volumes in my gallery. This is only the seventh volume, so there will be an eighth one that I have not finished writing. How can the book end here?

Everyone, please do not be worried, I was hoping to finish writing the book earlier this year. However, with my procrastination habits, I will try my best to end this book by the end of the year.

So, this is not the time to bid farewell. Everyone just continue to read. Tony Twain's story has not come to an end yet. (To be continued. if you want to know what comes after, please log in to www.qidian.com. There will be more chapters to come. Please support the author and legal reading!)