Chapter 160 What is scary is not failure, but unwillingness to change after failure
The night after the defeat to West Bromwich Albion, Mourinho had a long talk with club owner Abramovich all night.

Abramovich motioned Mourinho to sit down opposite him: "Jose, I feel I need an explanation. I have known you for many years, you are an excellent coach, this kind of thing should not happen"

Mourinho's expression was serious, with white hair clearly visible on his head: "Sir, I am willing to take all responsibility..."

Unexpectedly, Abramovich jumped up from the sofa and said, "Jose, do you remember more than 10 years ago? I asked you who you needed, and you said Drogba, I would buy him. Well, two months ago you told me you wanted to buy Jiang, and I bought him. You know, I don't care how much money it costs, I just want to make the team better, but what about now? Three consecutive defeats, we have lost three consecutive games! Is this Chelsea? This is not Chelsea!"

"..."

Mourinho's lips were tightly shut, unable to utter a word. On the contrary, Abramovich's voice became louder and louder: "I got a report from Lyon that our players seem to have some conflicts in the locker room? Is this true?"

“Sir, Leon is right, but I think I can do it, it just takes some time…”

Abramovich sighed: "Time? What time do we have now? This is the English Premier League, every point is crucial."

"Damn it, I heard the problem lies in tactics. I also saw the reaction from the outside world. It seems that many people are dissatisfied with your tactics?"

Mourinho nodded: "If you want to persuade me to change my tactics, Mr. Roman, forget it. You are my boss, but you are an outsider in the field of football. Of course, if you insist on doing this, it is not impossible, but there is a condition."

"condition?"

Abu raised his eyebrows: "What conditions?"

Mourinho stared into Abramovich's eyes and said, "If you want to change the team's tactics, please fire me..."

!!!

Abramovich gave a bitter smile. Mourinho was still the same Mourinho, a paranoid monster. He believed that his ideas were correct and would not allow anyone to interfere, not even himself as the boss.

Mourinho also stood up and faced Abramovich. From the side, it looked like they were about to fight: "I know other teams have studied our tactics thoroughly, but the problem is that if we change our tactics now, the risks we face will only be greater. Mr. Roman, the players are not in good shape, and this cannot be changed."

Abu smiled bitterly: "Jose, as your friend..."

"Mr. Roman, we are just employees, not friends."

"...Okay, Jose, I want to tell you that failure is not terrible, what is terrible is the unwillingness to make changes after failure. I got a degree from the Moscow State Law Academy, but I knew that this degree could not change my destiny, so I gambled on my future and chose to do business. You know, Russia at that time was still the Soviet Union that was about to disintegrate, and many businessmen would lose their fortunes as soon as they made money. So compared to doing business, being a lawyer is definitely a more stable job. But I am not afraid of failure, I am not afraid of bankruptcy, what I need is change, a thorough change, and this kind of change is exactly what the Blues need now"

Abramovich put his hands on Mourinho's shoulders: "So, Jose, my friend, please be brave and do it. The worst possible thing is relegation, but there is nothing to be afraid of relegation. Chelsea has played in the Championship before. Besides, I have money and I am not afraid of losing!"

Mourinho's eyes were dull and he couldn't say a word for a long time. So Abramovich grabbed Mourinho's shoulders with more force, as if he wanted to pull the flesh off Mourinho's shoulders: "Jose, please tell me your answer! Tell me!"

"call……"

Mourinho took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, and finally spoke: "I will make changes in the next game. If this change fails, it means that I am not worthy of being the head coach of the Blues."

"At that time...Sir, you can fire me."

……

On Tuesday morning UK time, the Blues players drove to the Cobham base one after another. After experiencing three consecutive defeats, no one had a smile on their face.

In the locker room, Terry sat next to Jiang Yuan: "Jiang, good morning"

"Ok!"

Jiang Yuan raised his hand and greeted, and then said nothing more. Jiang Yuan was very nervous now because he was determined to do something big!
He stayed in Cobham for extra training every night, and tried hard to trigger the system's rewards every night, but these efforts were of no use in the end - because he was a complete tool on Chelsea's right side.

After enduring for half a month, Jiang Yuan really couldn't bear it anymore.

He wants to confront Mourinho during training this morning!

Terry thought Jiang Yuan was silent because he was depressed after three consecutive defeats. As the captain, he couldn't help but comfort him: "Jiang, calm down, we will catch up!"

Jiang Yuan stood up and smiled at Terry: "Captain, it's almost time to go out..."

"Beep!"

After warming up, the players gathered in front of Mourinho and Brown. Logically, today's training content should still be small-scale ball possession and organization, but before the training began, Mourinho had something to say: "Everyone, let's make some adjustments to our training content today. Before that, I also have something to tell you."

At this time, Jiang Yuan raised his hand: "Jose, can I say a few words first?"

Jiang Yuan's sudden interruption surprised his teammates. You know, Mourinho likes to interrupt others, but he himself doesn't like being interrupted by others!
But what surprised the players was that Mourinho was uncharacteristically calm today when he responded to Jiang Yuan's intrusion: "Of course, go ahead."

"call--"

Jiang Yuan took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled: "Jose, I want to ask what caused you to stick to our current tactics. Don't worry, I don't mean to disrespect you, but from my perspective as a player, I think we will get no results if we continue playing like this."

!!!

Terry next to him turned his head and stared into Jiang Yuan's eyes.

Good man, you don't speak just to keep it to yourself?
Terry was very nervous now, fearing that Mourinho would send Jiang Yuan to the bench if he was unhappy. But Jiang Yuan was also worried.
After hesitating for more than half a month, Jiang Yuan knew that he really couldn't endure it any longer. Chelsea couldn't endure it, and neither could he!
Surprisingly, Mourinho's expression remained calm, but the usually calm Brown now had his eyes wide open.

In full view of the crowd, Mourinho made a gesture of invitation: "Continue"

Jiang Yuan glanced around, and continued to speak in the surprised eyes of his teammates: "First of all, I want to emphasize again that I have no intention of disrespecting you..."

Mourinho nodded: "I know, just tell me, I really want to know what you really think now"

"Thank you!"

Jiang Yuan was determined and said angrily, "Damn it, William and I are both wingers, not full-backs. You asked me to pass the ball to him all the time, but the problem is that I am not good at this at all. Do you know what I am good at? I am good at cutting inside and shooting! I know that my position in the team is just a substitute, but even if I take a step back, I am also a substitute winger, not a full-back! Do you know that I only had one shot in the whole game against West Brom? How can I be called a winger?"

Jiang Yuan licked his lips and said, "I am not pursuing a core position, but I just want you to pay more attention to the right side. I have no objection to Eden being the core, but I just hope you can pay more attention to William and me. I think we are both not weak."

"Okay, now you can scold me!"

Jiang Yuan lowered his head. He was ready. If Mourinho scolded him, he would frantically admit his mistake!
There was almost dead silence on the Cobham pitch, with the players' breathing rising and falling.

Zuma, who was standing on the side, secretly gave Jiang Yuan a thumbs up, and his admiration was self-evident.

Jiang Yuan now feels like he is back in his dream of arguing with Hemiel in the U19 team, but Mourinho is not Hemiel after all.

“Okay, thank you for telling me your true thoughts.”

Mourinho suddenly laughed, and his smile made Jiang Yuan feel a chill in his heart.

"Now let me tell you what I am going to say, which is about tactics. I plan to stop our current single-core tactics on the left starting from the next game and try to find offensive opportunities on the right."

Mourinho glanced at Jiang Yuan with a smile as he spoke, and other Chelsea players also turned their eyes to Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan spread his hands: "...Maybe I should wait for you to speak first?"

Jiang Yuan wanted to die now. If he had known that this was what Mourinho was going to talk about, he should have let Mourinho finish speaking first!

"Ha ha!"

Mourinho kicked Jiang Yuan on the butt and said jokingly: "You seem very dissatisfied with me. I am now considering keeping you on the bench."

Jiang Yuan begged for mercy: "Jose, to be honest, you have always been the greatest coach in my mind, 3 Premier League titles, 3!"

After listening, Mourinho rolled his eyes at Jiang Yuan and walked back to the middle of the players: "Okay, today our training is to simulate tactics. Before, our left and right sides had an 82-64 ball distribution, but now it has been changed to . The left side is still the core, but the right side is not completely non-attackable."

Hazard took a step forward and said, "Jose, isn't it too risky to change the team's tactics mid-match?"

"risk?"

Mourinho laughed: "I thought so at first, but someone talked me out of it. Do you know what he said?"

"We are already ranked last, what risks are we still worried about? Guys, the scary thing is not failure, but the unwillingness to make changes after failure."

"Beep!"

Mourinho blew the whistle: "Move, same group as before, reserve team players put on vests, today we will play an 11v11 training match"

……

In the training match, Mourinho put Jiang Yuan in the right winger position, and the original starting right winger William was replaced by Fabregas' position. This is the same lineup as when playing against Manchester City.

The difference is that now William will not only pass the ball to Hazard, Jiang Yuan’s chance of touching the ball has at least doubled.

The result was that in the 45-minute first half, Jiang Yuan and Costa scored twice respectively, Hazard cut inside and scored, and the starting team beat the reserve team 5:0.

"Maybe I should have done this sooner..."

Mourinho muttered quietly that the biggest difference between Jiang Yuan and William was that William could only cross the ball from the bottom or take a long shot from outside the penalty area, but Jiang Yuan could both go down the bottom and cut inside, injecting new vitality into Chelsea's right side.

“A bold change, but the effect seems to be good”

Brown smiled as he watched the Chelsea players who were resting at halftime. Jiang Yuan and Hazard had one small explosion point and another a big explosion point, which made the reserve team's defensive players very uncomfortable.

If the focus is on Hazard, William can pass the ball to the right where Jiang Yuan is. As we all know, Jiang Yuan's acceleration and sprinting ability is unique in the Blues. The biggest feature of speed players is that in 1-on-1 situations, their success rate of passing is ridiculously high.

Obviously, if you want to defend Jiang Yuan's route, a full-back and a midfielder are necessary, but if you do this, sorry, Chelsea also has a 7000 million euro Hazard on the left.

Although this season's Belgian superstar is not as amazing as last season, he is definitely not someone who can be underestimated.

The effect of the first half was good, but Mourinho still frowned: "It is too early to draw a conclusion. Fabregas is more suitable to play as an attacking midfielder, but the problem is that William can't play as a defensive midfielder. If you want to put Fabregas back in the attacking midfielder position, Jiang and William must have a substitute."

"To be honest, I think if the two of them were on the court at the same time, William's dribbling and Jiang's speed would complement each other."

Mourinho told Brown about his confusion. This new lineup requires sacrifices from Willian and Fabregas. At the same time, the strengthening of the right-wing attack will also bring greater defensive pressure to the two defenders on the right, especially Cahill. This is why Mourinho dared not make changes. Once changed, everything changes. This is football tactics.

Brown put his hand on Mourinho's right shoulder: "We should be satisfied. I feel that playing like this can achieve better results."

Mourinho slowly exhaled: "I hope so... We really can't lose again"

……

After the morning training, Mourinho returned to the office from the cafeteria. He should have been lying on the sofa for a nap, but Mourinho did not do that. He was holding a pen and writing something on a piece of paper.

[Dear Mr. Labramovich, ……]

Just after finishing the beginning, there was a knock on the office door. Mourinho was so scared that he quickly stuffed the paper and pen back into the drawer: "Come in!"

"Squeak!"

Jiang Yuan, who had just finished lunch, pushed the door open and walked in: "Sir, may I bother you for a moment?"

Seeing who was coming, Mourinho felt a little surprised but also felt that this was quite reasonable: "Jiang, please sit down!"

However, Jiang Yuan did not sit down on the chair in front of him as Mourinho said, but stood beside the chair: "Sir, I need to apologize to you for what happened during training. I admit that I was a little impulsive, and I hope you can understand."

Mourinho laughed: "So that's what it is. Sit down and talk about it. You've played a whole morning's game. Aren't you tired?"

Jiang Yuan shook his head: "I think it's better to stand. If you want to apologize, you must have an apologetic attitude. I'm here to admit my mistake to you."

"I won't accept your apology unless you sit down."

"..."

Mourinho's usual tough attitude forced Jiang Yuan to sit on the chair. Now there is only one word to describe his current mood: sitting on pins and needles!

Jiang Yuan sat on the recliner, his entire upper body bent, his head leaning forward: "Jose, so, I want to know your attitude. I hope that incident will become a barrier between you and me. As I said, you are a very good coach..."

"OK OK"

Mourinho waved his hand and interrupted Jiang Yuan: "I know I am an excellent coach, and I don't need you to tell me this. To be honest, what you said this morning surprised me a little, but my reason tells me that you did nothing wrong. So you don't need to seek my forgiveness. I respect every excellent athlete, just as others respect me."

"Then...can I still have a chance to play?"

"Ha ha!"

Mourinho suddenly laughed: "This is the real purpose of coming here, right?"

"Feel sorry……"

Jiang Yuan blushed, like a child who had made a mistake.

Mourinho shrugged: "Don't be nervous, I never meant to blame you from the beginning to the end. You have to know that you are the person I specifically asked for."

"so……?"

Jiang Yuan blinked, and there seemed to be light in his eyes.

"The lineup in today's training is the lineup for the next round of the league, and you are the starting lineup"

!!!

……

8:29 p.m. on August 10th, Beijing time.

"Zhuangdianertai! Zhuangdianertai! This is the live broadcast of the 4th round of the Premier League, Chelsea's home game against Crystal Palace. I am the commentator He Wei, and I am the commentator Zhang Lu. You can see that the starting players of both teams are ready in the player tunnel!"

"As the champion of last season, Chelsea has lost all three games so far and is currently ranked last in the Premier League standings with a goal difference of 3 points and a goal difference of -0 goals. The Blues are now facing controversy from the outside world."

"In addition, many Chelsea fans are looking for a new coach for the team. The most popular candidate is Chelsea's meritorious coach Hiddink, but there is no official news from Chelsea that Mourinho will be terminated. It seems that Abramovich is willing to give the Portuguese coach more opportunities."

"It is undeniable that if Chelsea continues to maintain this state of play, Mourinho's dismissal will become inevitable!"

"The home team Chelsea is wearing blue jerseys and attacking from the right side of the screen to the left side. The visiting team Crystal Palace is wearing white jerseys and attacking from the left side of the screen to the right side. The stadium for this game is still the familiar Stamford Bridge. In addition, the news that everyone is most concerned about is that Jiang Yuan, who had a mediocre performance as a substitute in the last round of the game, returned to the starting position today!"

"The game begins! Let me introduce you to the starting lineup for this game."

Chelsea (4-2-3-1)

Defenders: Ivanovic, Zouma, Gary Cahill, Azpilicueta

Midfielders: Fabregas, Matic, Willian

Forwards: Hazard, Diego Costa, Jiang Yuan

Goalkeeper: Courtois

Head coach: Mourinho
"Then it's the visiting team Crystal Palace, also 4231!"

Crystal Palace (4-2-3-1)

Defenders: Soares, Delaney, Dann, Ward

Midfielders: Cabaye, McArthur, Bakary Sakho
Forwards: Zaha, Wickham, Ponjong

Goalkeeper: Alex McCarthy

Head coach: Alan Pardew
……

"William, here!"

Seeing William being tackled by Sakho, Fabregas behind him immediately asked for the ball, and William decisively passed the ball back.

At the same time, Hazard shook off MacArthur and suddenly accelerated. Fabregas passed the ball directly without hesitation.

"Wow!"

"Fabregas's through ball passed between Sarkozy and Ponjong, and Hazard stopped the ball. Let's see what choice Hazard will make. He dribbled the ball and Kabaye rushed forward!"

"Beautiful! Wonderful change of rhythm, Hazard shakes off Kabaye and runs to the baseline. Ward comes up, one-on-one on the wing, look at Hazard's cut-in performance today"

"MacArthur returned to defense very quickly. If Hazard cuts inside now... wait, the ball was passed back and William in the middle got the ball. Hazard didn't choose to break through alone. It's really strange!"

"William! William passed the ball to the right, and the one who got the ball was... Jiang Yuan!"

William acted as a wingman in the middle and transferred the ball from the strong side to the weak side. Chelsea's sudden transfer made Crystal Palace unable to react, and MacArthur and Pang Qiong who returned to defense were directly caught off guard.

After getting the ball, Jiang Yuan was very calm. He used his excellent acceleration ability to bring the ball directly to a position close to the baseline. Soare, who was chasing after him, reached out and tried to pull Jiang Yuan down.

"Go away!"

Jiang Yuan swung out with his left hand, pushing against Soare's body and walking from the bottom line into the penalty area. At this time, the ball was already half out of bounds!
"Jiang Yuan's dribbling choice is very strong. Soare is only 178 cm tall and has no advantage in the physical confrontation with Jiang Yuan!"

"But the problem now is that Jiang Yuan's position is very bad. We can see that the ball is already halfway out of the baseline..."

"Costa ran into the small penalty area, and Crystal Palace's defense was forced to shrink. Now William and Matic at the top of the arc are empty! Jiang Yuan can choose to make a reverse triangle pass, which will be a good opportunity."

"Hey... just hit the door!"

"omg! oh my god! brilliant! what a brilliant goal!"

"The ball is in!"

"Oh my god, haha, in the 6th minute of the game, Chelsea, who played at home, scored the first goal with Jiang Yuan's 0-angle shot, 1:0!"

Crystal Palace goalkeeper McCarthy sat on the ground, looking very depressed.

Jiang Yuan's 0-angle shot was not only beyond his expectations, but also came at a very tricky angle, with the ball brushing the far post of the goal and going into the net.

Perfect 0-angle shot!

"what!!!!"

Seeing the ball go into the net, Jiang Yuan quickly changed direction, ran towards the right corner flagpole, and roared at the home fans.

"Fuck, who else? Who else?!"

"Wow!"

"Jiang!"

"JIANG, Jiang!"

Stamford Bridge suddenly became lively. This was the first time Chelsea took the lead this season. How could the Blues fans not be excited?
"Wow, beautiful!"

William rushed over and jumped onto Jiang Yuan's back. He hugged Jiang Yuan's head with both hands, then pulled out one hand and shouted to the sky: "Chelsea! Chelsea!"

……

(End of this chapter)