Chapter 144 One dares to give, the other dares to wear

Chelsea was quite generous and directly booked all the rooms on the 15th floor. This floor will not be open to the public during the three days of the warm-up match.

Jiang Yuan found his room, put his luggage away and hurried to the lobby on the 15th floor. According to Mourinho, there would be a post-match summary meeting. Although Jiang Yuan did not play, it would not be a bad idea to listen.

"Hey, Jiang, sit here!"

Hazard waved to Jiang Yuan, motioning Jiang Yuan to sit next to him. Jiang Yuan was polite and sat on the same sofa with Hazard.

"Jiang, are you Korean? Or Japanese?"

Jiang Yuan smacked his lips: "I am Chinese"

Hazard frowned, looking puzzled: "Isn't South Korea part of China?"

Jiang Yuan was speechless. He was too lazy to explain to Hazard: "Eden, let's change the subject and talk about your match against Paris yesterday. How did you play?"

Hazard spread his hands and said, "The warm-up match is to try out new tactics, but I don't think we need to change tactics at all. Jiang, do you know that we were the Premier League champions last season?"

Speaking of the "Premier League Champion", Hazard inadvertently raised his head. This is indeed a thing to be proud of, not to mention that the Belgian in front of him was the best player in the Premier League last season.

"By the way, I heard that you scored 14 goals in just half a season in the Portuguese Super League. Is this true?"

Hazard suddenly became interested.

Jiang Yuan smiled bitterly and said, "I have already discussed this topic with Cesar. The goal was certainly not fake. But you know, my teammates contributed a lot to this, otherwise I would not have been able to score 14 goals in half a season!"

If Lopetegui were here, he would definitely curse Jiang Yuan.

Who says teammates can make the most of the contributions? Jiang Yuan is the only one who can't make the most of the contributions. Because Jiang Yuan scored his second goal by receiving the ball kicked by Neves.

Even after Jiang Yuan scored a goal, he gave Neves a thumbs up and said, "Good pass!"

Of course, all this is unknown except for the fans who often watch Portuguese Super League games and Porto players. After listening to Jiang Yuan's explanation, Hazard breathed a sigh of relief: "So that's how it is. But your shooting accuracy must be very high, otherwise no matter how strong your teammates are, they can't score 14 goals. Maybe Jose is impressed by your shooting skills?"

Hazard obviously has never seen Jiang Yuan play football, so he can only make guesses based on data.

This is perfect, Jiang Yuan can just say something like: "Maybe, I think my shooting skills are pretty accurate."

"Hey! I heard you're a left winger?"

Hazard leaned half of his body forward, and what interested him most about Jiang Yuan were the three words "left winger".

Of course, as the best player in the Premier League last season, Hazard has absolute confidence in keeping his starting position.

Jiang Yuan shook his head: "I can play on both sides. From what Jose said, I might switch to the right side."

"Right side? Isn't William going to be in trouble? You know, he scored less than one-third of your goals last season! But...but he is very strong in set pieces and has good speed. If you want to compete with him for a position, shooting ability alone is not enough."

Hazard seemed to be "giving advice" to Jiang Yuan, but Jiang Yuan was not a child and of course he knew that these were just words to get close to him.

Jiang Yuan was also helpless. Why should he go to the right when he could play on the left which he liked?

The players arrived one after another, Courtois was the first to sit on the left of Hazard, and the two Belgians seemed to have endless things to say.

Then there are three Spaniards: Costa, Fabregas and Azpilicueta.

Jiang Yuan took a quick glance and grasped the general information.

Players of the same nationality in the team generally have a good relationship. As for the Chelsea team as a whole, there seems to be no conflicts at the moment.

"Hey Jiang, good afternoon!"

Azpilicueta and Jiang Yuan high-fived each other, but other than that no one else interacted with Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan did not make any comment on this. Just think about how Son Heung-min is treated in Tottenham now. Asians playing football in Europe are not very welcome. It will probably take some time for Jiang Yuan to fully integrate into Chelsea, and it will be very difficult!

After a while, Mourinho brought his assistant Lyon Brown to the hall and began to discuss what to do next.

First of all, let's talk about the transfer of players. After Jiang Yuan joined the team, all of Chelsea's signings this summer are in place. Those with a value of more than 500 million euros are: Baba (2600 million euros), Jiang Yuan (1300 million euros), Begovic (1100 million euros), and Kennedy (800 million euros).

However, the 500 million euro price tag only reaches Chelsea's bench level. Mourinho's four signings this summer are all aimed at expanding the depth of the bench.

"Guys, first of all, let's summarize yesterday's game. We lost to the New York Red Bulls in the warm-up match, but as you know, the victory or defeat of the warm-up match is irrelevant. We need to see some problems from the game."

Assistant coach Brown took out a pen and started writing on the tactics board. The lobby on the 15th floor of the hotel has become the locker room for Chelsea players.

"Last season we used the 4231-4231-- formation all the time, which was pretty good. We achieved some good results and won the Premier League trophy. But the problem is that in the latter part of last season we gradually discovered that other Premier League teams were getting more and more familiar with our tactics. If we continue to use the --- formation to cross the ball this season, we will not benefit from it!"

"In yesterday's warm-up match against Paris, we tried the 433 formation. Even if we put aside the lineup adjustment, we still have a lot of problems. The biggest problem that 433 brings to us is that our offense is weakened, but..."

Brown's eyes swept over Hazard, William, and Fabregas.

Mourinho took the pen from Brown: "Let me tell you!"

Brown retreated to the side to give Mourinho the center position.

Then, Mourinho picked up the pen and swung it behind him, then threw the pen away in front of Jiang Yuan's surprised gaze.

"The biggest problem we have when playing in a 433 formation is in the frontcourt. If Diego is not in the front, the opponent's defense will not shrink towards the goal. Our two wingers, Eden and William, both have very strong personal abilities, but if the opponent's defense does not shrink, problems will arise."

"In the 433 formation, we can't guarantee that the two wingers can play to their level. Eden and William will be restricted. Just like this!"

Mourinho kicked the tactical board.

"boom!"

The tactical board hit the ground.

Jiang Yuan glanced at Hazard, who was sitting on his left, and was unable to utter a word for a long time.

If he didn't know, he might have thought he had entered a gangster's hometown!
Hazard put his mouth close to Jiang Yuan's ear and whispered, "Jose is like this, you just have to get used to it."

Jiang Yuan gave a thumbs up, indicating that he could withstand the pressure!

The entire meeting lasted less than 40 minutes, and Jiang Yuan roughly learned about the problems Chelsea was facing from Mourinho.

1. The tactical characteristics have been thoroughly studied by the league opponents, and they want to seek changes but cannot do so.
2. The overall condition of the team is not good

Finally, Mourinho made a shocking statement: "If you guys are all so lazy, do you believe that we won't be able to win many games at the start of next season?!"

It can be seen that Mourinho is really nervous!
Courtois spread his hands and said, "Please, Jose, we were the champions last season. We should win three games in a row at the start of this season, right?" "Three games in a row?"

Mourinho laughed and said calmly: "Confidence is a good thing, just continue to be confident."

"Okay, that's all for today, let's disband. Jiang, you stay!"

After that, Hazard, Costa and others left one after another. As for Jiang Yuan, Mourinho still had some things to explain to the team's new players.

Jiang Yuan had not yet recovered from Mourinho's temper, and sat on the chair in fear: "He, Mr. Jose, do you have anything else to say?"

“Don’t be so restrained”

Mourinho sat down on the sofa next to Jiang Yuan and said, "We have to return to London to deal with the transfer and the final photos, but this will not affect it. You can play in the warm-up match first."

Players do not need to register for warm-up matches, and there is no need to worry about the UK work permit issue. As long as the head coach agrees, anyone can play!
Jiang Yuan nodded: "Mr. Jose, I want to ask about my labor permit..."

"Labor certification, right? Don't worry about that. We have already appealed and are applying for a hearing for you. Your conditions can pass the special genius clause."

Mourinho was right. Although Jiang Yuan did not meet the minimum standards for a UK work permit, the UK Department of Labor had a "special talent" clause to help the FA compete for talented players from other non-EU countries.

"Jose, I know about this special genius clause, but I just want to know, will this thing be approved after the appeal?"

Jiang Yuan was still a little worried, fearing that by the time the summer transfer window closed, he would have already transferred to Chelsea but would not be able to play without a work permit, and Jiang Yuan would then have no choice but to be loaned out.

However, Mourinho waved his hand and said indifferently: "They will agree anyway, even if they are fools."

"All right!"

Jiang Yuan shrugged and said no more.

Mourinho continued: "As we agreed before, you will be the team's right winger, William's first substitute. I need to confirm this with you again. I don't like people questioning my lineup arrangements."

"Of course, it is the players' responsibility to follow the coach's instructions"

Seeing Jiang Yuan agreed, Mourinho continued: "But... you know, if a player performs particularly well, I will not let him be a substitute. Jiang, I watched your game video, you have a strong impact and creativity on the offensive end, but if you rely on your two kicks in the Portuguese Super League, you can only be a substitute at best."

The biggest difference between Mourinho and Lopetegui is that he is very straightforward and does not care too much about other people's feelings when speaking.

Jiang Yuan felt a little uncomfortable, but he still had to admit what Mourinho said.

"All right!"

Mourinho patted Jiang Yuan on the shoulder and said, "Jiang, tell me the jersey number you want and I'll get someone to get you a jersey."

When Jiang Yuan heard about the jersey, he became interested: "Jose, any number is fine?"

Mourinho pretended to think: "No. 30 or below!"

With the help of his brain memory, Jiang Yuan thought about Chelsea's number that had been taken away.

"2..."

Just as Jiang Yuan was about to say "No. 27", his subconscious mind told him not to do so.

So Jiang Yuan mustered up the courage to ask, "Jose, does anyone want number 7?"

"..."

Mourinho's expression suddenly became serious: "Good boy, I knew you were worth training. Let me tell you a good news. Chelsea's No. 7 is now vacant."

"But... do you dare to ask for it?"

Jiang Yuan licked his lips.

He inherited the number 27 from Porto.

Or should you choose No. 7 which has a higher B grade?
Jiang Yuan sat on the sofa in silence for half a minute, and finally said: "Jose, if I want number 7, will the club be willing to give me this number?"

"If you dare to wear it, I dare to give it to you"

Jiang Yuan let out a sigh: "Then let's go with number 7. Sorry to bother Mr. Jose..."

Jiang Yuan seemed to have made some important decision and was extremely nervous.

He was afraid that the choice he was making now was wrong, but he was also worried that he would regret not making this choice now.

Hearing this, Mourinho smiled and said: "Chinese boy, Chelsea's No. 7 is yours. But you have to know that No. 7 is not a substitute number..."

Jiang Yuan certainly knew what making this choice meant.

If he took the No. 7 jersey and still sat on the bench, it would be a bit unreasonable. From the day Jiang Yuan chose the No. 7 jersey, the battle between him and William on the right side began!

"Jose, do you think my choice is correct?"

Jiang Yuan asked, Mourinho pursed his lips and said, "Jiang, it's hard to tell right from wrong now. You have to use your game results to prove that your No. 7 is worthy. This is Shevchenko's number. This number represents honor, but also pressure!"

"You have one last chance now, do you want this number?"

Jiang Yuan nodded decisively. The number 7 of the Premier League giants, an achievement that the Chinese have not yet achieved, will be realized by him today.

Number 7 for Chlesea!

"Hahaha!"

Mourinho laughed, which made Jiang Yuan very puzzled: "Jose, why are you laughing?"

"Because, you are a substitute now, but if you give up this number, you will be a substitute forever in my heart..."

Mourinho's words have a profound meaning, and Jiang Yuan needs some time to figure it out, but the meaning is clear. Mourinho hopes that after wearing the No. 7 jersey, he can play like Chelsea's No. 7!

Adrian Mutu, Maniche, Andriy Shevchenko, Ramirez... and so on and so forth.

Chelsea fans will have high expectations for the owner of the No. 7 jersey, and what Jiang Yuan needs to do is to meet the expectations of Chelsea fans as much as possible. This is his responsibility as a Chelsea player and Chelsea's No. 7.

In general, it's pretty much...

One dares to give, the other dares to wear!
……

(End of this chapter)