Chapter 551: The Simeone era at Atletico Madrid
As the King's Cup concluded in 2011, Spanish football entered a brief winter break, which would be unforgettable for Wang Feng.
On Christmas Eve, in a top private hospital in Madrid, Wang Feng and his family anxiously waited outside the operating room for good news to come.
Although he had experienced this before, he still couldn't contain his nervousness. After all, every childbirth had its risks. Little Siyao stood by her father's side, very sensible, holding his big hand with her small one. Her round eyes blinked as if comforting him.
His sister also comforted him, saying, "You look just as lost now as you did three years ago. Don't worry, both mother and son will be healthy."
After a while, the door of the operating room finally opened, and a nurse came out with good news, saying, "Congratulations, it's a healthy baby boy. Mother and son are safe!"
Upon hearing this, Wang Feng couldn't wait to rush into the room. He quickly went to Lu Yao's side and held her hand. Although she was tired, she forced herself to say, "Why are you so nervous? We have a baby boy now. He can play football with you in the future."
"Thank you, Yao Yao," Wang Feng said softly, gently brushing aside her sweat-drenched hair. Lu Yao just smiled and shook her head slowly.
"Daddy, Daddy, I want to see my little brother!" Little Siyao by the side couldn't wait to say. Her height couldn't reach the edge of the bed, and despite several attempts to tiptoe, she couldn't see her future playmate.
Wang Feng picked her up and placed her by the bed. Siyao looked at the newborn in front of her with curiosity, gently poking him with her hand, then pouted, "He's so ugly. Is this my little brother? Sofia will laugh at him."
Wang Feng couldn't help but smile, "You were born like this too. He will become as cute as you in a few months when he grows up."
Hearing her father's words, Siyao finally relaxed, showing a relieved and smiling expression. She then began to discuss with her brother what games to play and how to divide toys in the future. Of course, the baby could only respond with crying, which made the whole family couldn't help but chuckle at her serious demeanor.
Lu Yao rested in the hospital for two days before returning to the villa. Just like three years ago, Wang Feng hired professionals to scientifically take care of them, and he naturally accompanied his family, spending a warm New Year together.
This winter was not peaceful for La Liga teams, especially for Atletico Madrid, who suffered a humiliating defeat to Alaves in the King's Cup, being eliminated in both home and away matches.
"Atletico is finished, and Manzano is finished too!" Spanish media exclaimed as soon as the game ended.
The Calderon Stadium was furious, and Manzano faced ruthless insults from the fans. The management was destined to sacrifice Manzano to appease the fans. Moreover, many players in the dressing room were dissatisfied with the coach. Manzano definitely couldn't stay at Atletico Madrid.
However, the Spanish media generally believed that Atletico's problems were not solely the fault of the head coach. Julian, a commentator for "Reason Report," said that Manzano was just a scapegoat. The root of Atletico's contradictions lies not in tactical aspects but in internal chaos within the team.
"Manzano has never had the authority to build the team. Whether it's transfers or player clearances, it's all decided by the club's top management. Because they don't consider the coach's opinions, Atletico's transfers sometimes seem quite strange. Spaniards shouldn't blame all the team's mistakes on the coach. The club's direction is confused, and poor team performance is inevitable."
As for the departure of the coach and the successor, there were reports as early as early December. "Manzano's dismissal has entered the countdown, and Simeone is about to become the new coach of Atletico Madrid," said "ABC News."
The club was dragging on not firing Manzano, hoping that he would resign, so they wouldn't have to pay compensation.
On the other hand, Simeone had long hoped to coach Atletico Madrid. After winning the championship with River Plate in 2008, he said, "I am a coach, and I know that I will coach Atletico Madrid in the future."
On the day of the King's Cup loss, Simeone held a press conference and officially resigned as the head coach of an Argentine domestic team, indicating that he was ready to take over as the head coach of Atletico Madrid from Manzano.
This situation naturally made Manzano very unhappy. "The fact that I was fired was known to the media before the coach himself. Is this ethical?" he said.
Although club president Cerezo continued to throw smoke bombs, saying that Simeone's arrival at the team was entirely fabricated by the media, he even claimed that he didn't even know that Simeone had resigned as the head coach of a domestic competition team.
But the truth would inevitably come out. Soon, someone photographed Simeone appearing in Madrid. And on the eve of Christmas, the Bed Sheet Legion officially announced the dismissal of Manzano, congratulating him ceremoniously on his future endeavors.
By the end of the winter break, the legendary former Bed Sheet Legion player Simeone would team up with his former teammate Burgos to officially take over as the head coach of Atletico Madrid, ushering in his own era at Atletico!
Apart from Atletico, Sevilla also grabbed headlines during the winter break, mainly because their current coach, Del Nido, was imprisoned.
Of course, his crimes had nothing to do with football but were related to more complex economic cases. Therefore, he stated that he would not resign from his position as the head of the Sevilla club.
Del Nido currently only owned 35% of Sevilla's shares, but he was undoubtedly the spiritual leader of the team for the past 10 years, and many fans immediately expressed their appreciation to this man who had brought Sevilla its best results in history.
There was a great division within the Sevilla management on whether to support Del Nido to continue leading the team. The faction led by former president Carion believed that he must leave, as it would otherwise affect the club's reputation.
The faction led by deputy Castro believed that Del Nido's case was completely groundless, and it was premature to come to conclusions. In such a situation, his sudden resignation would inevitably cause turmoil in the club.
Both sides were deadlocked, but Del Nido himself was very optimistic. After being released on bail, he even had a Christmas dinner with members of the first team.
As for the transfer market, La Liga didn't cause much of a stir. Neither of the top two made any moves, and the other clubs only made symbolic reinforcements.
In fact, Barcelona had considered continuing to invest in the winter to prepare for the second half of the season. However, heavy investments in recent years had depleted their coffers. They even had to sell the chest advertising space to the Qatar Foundation, which angered many Catalan fans.
In addition to this, the renewal of Iniesta and Alves also caused headaches for Rosell. For a traditional powerhouse like them, Manchester City was like a fly buzzing annoyingly in their ears.
City first offered a staggering �100 million for Alves, and also made contact with Alves' agent. Both players had shown signs of frustration due to frequent losses in recent years and were likely to choose to chase after euros and leave the team.
Rosell knew their importance, so he was doing everything in his power to appease them. If they couldn't even keep the foundation of Barcelona, he might not be too far from being shown the door himself.
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