CHAPTER 62: CHAPTER 33: RULES

It’s late at night, who’s out there~

That makes you so concerned?

Schuster and Francisco were in the office, the table covered with all sorts of materials. Francisco was muttering to himself but didn’t slack off with his work. It wasn’t until he heard Schuster’s mumbling that he turned to Schuster and asked, "Execute what?"

"Plan."

"What plan?" Francisco looked at the smiling Schuster and felt a bit like cursing: "You do know we’re working right now, don’t you? I just want to finish what I’m doing as soon as possible and get a good rest."

"Alright, alright." Schuster nodded repeatedly, growing more satisfied with Francisco. Although he was always chattering, he still eagerly worked overtime for Real Madrid. Keeping the man in suspense at this time was indeed not very decent: "Didn’t I say before that I wanted to limit the players, make them eat at Sports City?"

"Haven’t you already made similar requests?"

"Not formal enough, I want to turn it into a rule."

"A rule?" Francisco’s first thought was to stop Schuster’s crazy idea, but then he realized that today’s Real Madrid was not the same as in the past.

Stars like Ronaldo, Beckham, and Carlos had all left. Left behind, apart from a few troublemakers, were mostly the more ’obedient’ ones.

"Exactly."

"From now on, the team must eat lunch at Sports City and take a nap."

"Moreover, on most nights centralized management should be enforced. You know Chen went out today, right?"

"I know." Francisco nodded, saying: "But Chen is a disciplined good kid. He just went out to have a small gathering with teammates and would even do extra practice afterwards."

"But he will get into trouble."

"He is now a Real Madrid player. Believe it or not, the reporters have already snapped pictures of him going out today."

"I don’t know what they’ll write, but some reporters will definitely make some guesses, and they’re not going to be positive ones. Besides, this is something I’ve always wanted to implement."

Schuster looked at Francisco, sighed, and said: "My friend, not everyone is like Chen, for example, Robinho."

"Robinho..." Francisco frowned. In terms of football talent alone, Robinho was unquestionably at a historical level. He possessed exceptional ball feel, body coordination, and speed that reminded people of Ronaldo. His sharp breakthroughs had him earmarked as Pele’s successor early on.

But such an early success, for a player who hadn’t faced much setback, revealed significant flaws in his character. He would pull down his teammate’s pants at major events in front of the media. He would attend wild parties, needing 40 condoms at once, and frequently order special services.

Real Madrid brought Robinho to Bernabeu and even gave the number 10 jersey to him back then, intending to create the next Ronaldo, the next superstar. Yet Robinho fell far short of that.

"Yes, Robinho." Schuster took over the topic and said: "The club is in contact with Manchester United, hoping to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid, possibly using Robinho plus a transfer fee."

"However, Manchester United doesn’t seem interested in this deal. The higher-ups hope I could try to cultivate Robinho more, and it would be great if he can fulfill his potential."

"They still have hopes for Robinho."

"This might be tough." Francisco hesitated for a bit before saying: "I know him well, if that’s the case, he might be dissatisfied."

"Let’s not discuss this. How about Barcelona in this round of the league?" Schuster asked with an odd look at the materials in his hand: "Are you sure this is Barcelona?"

"0:0 tie with Osasuna, 1 win and 2 draws in 3 league matches." Francisco played a video clip excerpt, showing Ronaldinho in a light blue jersey lying on the ground with his arm raised. The once football sprite appeared a bit embarrassed. Moments later, Ronaldinho stood up from the ground, lowering his head in deep thought: "I feel something’s wrong with Barcelona’s team atmosphere, and also Ronaldinho, haven’t you noticed, he seems to have gotten quite a bit heavier."

"Looks like they’re in big trouble."

"Do you remember last season’s incident where Eto’o lashed out at Rijkaard?"

"I do!" Francisco’s eyes widened, incredulous: "Last season it seemed Rijkaard said Eto’o wasn’t willing to play, and then Eto’o slammed Rijkaard as a bad person, untrustworthy, wasn’t it?"

"If I were Rijkaard, I definitely would have dealt with Eto’o sooner; he’s really too lenient." Schuster, realizing Barcelona was in deep trouble, relaxed quite a bit and smiled: "Rijkaard lacks authority in the dressing room, and it’s an open secret that he’s at odds with the club chairman Laporta. After Eto’o slammed Rijkaard, Laporta even publicly declared that the team should sympathize with Eto’o, saying he made a lot of effort to recover from injuries. It’s really ridiculous. Is the individual more important than the collective? Is Eto’o more important than the stability of the dressing room?"

"You’ll see! When Barcelona’s performance was good, all this could be covered up, but now, I think they’re going to get worse."

"In fact, Rijkaard might even be dismissed eventually."

"Dismissed!" Francisco exclaimed; this was Rijkaard’s fifth year coaching Barcelona, and many thought he could become a figure like Ferguson: "What can we do in this situation? Like maybe signing Ronaldinho?"

Francisco’s eyes gleamed. The episode of signing Luis Figo through a contract back then was still being talked about by fans. If they could sign Ronaldinho now...

"You’re too naive, my friend."

"Ronaldinho is not a disciplined player; he’s long past his prime."

"I’ll admit, he still has some brilliance; when he’s in form, he’s still remarkable, but we don’t need him."

"I guess Rijkaard must have done something to Ronaldinho, like talking, endless talks with this Brazilian, but evidently, the effect was limited."

"What he gained because of this Brazilian at first, he will eventually lose because of this Brazilian. In this sense, he and I share a common worry."

"I won’t make the same mistake he did; I will set my rule." Schuster resolutely said, "I need your help, Francisco, for Madrid."