While the first team enjoyed a well-earned break, the youth team had no such luxury. They still had to continue training.
Although Jim Cassell assisted Mourinho with the first team, he was more often seen in the youth team's training area, where he instructed the young players on positioning and coordination.
Maintaining tactical consistency between the academy and the first team was not as simple as it sounded. It involved many complex and detailed issues that Ethan did not fully understand. He only knew that Cassell had said it would take a long time, perhaps one or two years, or even three, five, or ten.
Alberto De Rossi, who came from Italy, had received formal coaching training there and had conducted extensive research into Italian defending.
At the moment, he was teaching defensive techniques to the academy's under-17 players.
Among those young players, the one he valued most was Curtis Davies. He was strong, quick, and powerfully built, but his technique was average, and his defensive skills were poor.
Curtis had raw strength and fierce determination, but he lacked refinement. His defending followed one simple principle. If you could not stop the opponent, foul him.
That was also the principle followed by many English center-backs.
To put it kindly, it was passion and aggression. To put it less kindly, it was reckless bravery.
"Curtis, you need to be calmer. Don't just rely on brute strength and heavy challenges. You know that once you face a technically gifted player, you'll easily be put at a disadvantage," De Rossi advised earnestly.
"Then what should I do?" Curtis asked humbly.
De Rossi stood in front of Curtis and demonstrated.
"Act according to your judgment. First, think about taking up a good position, then use your defensive technique. If that still doesn't work, and you really need to foul, a shirt pull or a trip is fine, but never raise your boot. Do you know why?"
Curtis shook his head.
"Because that will get you booked. For the same result, a pull or a trip will usually only be a foul, but raising your boot or making a reckless challenge will earn you a card!"
De Rossi continued demonstrating different defensive techniques.
Besides Curtis, several other young defenders were also present, all boys from the nearby Newton Heath area.
Seeing Curtis deep in thought, De Rossi smiled, patted him on the shoulder, signalled for them to continue practising in groups, then walked to the touchline.
At some point, Ethan and Mourinho had already arrived.
"Alberto, it looks like they really respect you. Even Curtis doesn't dare argue with you!" Ethan said with a smile.
De Rossi shook his head and laughed.
"He's a good prospect, but unfortunately, the general environment in England and the training he received before have influenced him too deeply. His defending is still far too English."
"What do you mean?" Mourinho asked.
He had been paying close attention to De Rossi's words from earlier and was clearly very interested.
"Simply put, it is direct, crude, and lacking in technique."
Mourinho looked thoughtful.
He had only recently arrived in England, so his understanding of the football environment here was naturally not as thorough as De Rossi's.
However, during this period, he had deeply felt that there was a significant gap between what he had known before and the reality of English football.
That gap was most obvious in the players' execution of the tactics he had set.
Of course, this was not because the players had a poor attitude, but because of their environment and their abilities.
"To give a simple example, Arsenal's defensive leader, Tony Adams, was once made to look helpless by Van Basten, yet he was one of England's best center-backs.
"His movements were rough. They were effective, but the cost was also high, especially the follow-through after his heavy defensive actions, which often caused direct injuries to opponents."
"Similarly, if we want to achieve the same effect in Italy, take Nesta, who is currently regarded as the best center-back. He is very good at using small trips and subtle pulls.
"The same applies to Redondo, one of the best defensive midfielders in the game today.
"But when it comes to winning the ball from an opponent, I've noticed that Southgate's preferred methods are charging in, using physical contact, and fouling.
"Is that still defending?"
"Have you noticed that shorter center-backs are rarely seen in England? Why?" De Rossi suddenly asked.
That question immediately made both Mourinho and Ethan's eyes light up.
They had not realized De Rossi possessed such sharp powers of observation.
"That Argentinian keeps complaining to me that English players have terrible technique. Perhaps you can help him solve that problem, Mr. Yu!" De Rossi said with a helpless smile.
Ethan followed his gesture and saw Palacio Sr. patiently teaching several young players how to pass, receive the ball, and perform other basic movements. However, it seemed many of them still could not do those things well.
"I think I've figured out why the team always fails to function the way I imagined, Ethan.
"In fact, the players' problems are secondary. The real problem is me!"
Ethan looked curiously at the man reflecting on himself.
He felt that Mourinho truly was intelligent and hardworking, someone who constantly thought and reflected.
"Thank you, Ethan. I think I need to reset the team's tactics.
"Starting tomorrow, we need to carefully refine the players' technical details.
"That will make our team's coordination smoother.
"Also, I think we should work with Cassell to tear down the previous academy training plan and rebuild it from scratch."
"That's a major project!" Ethan said with a smile.
"It is. But this time, I think I've found the right direction.
"As Alberto said, English players' technique is not as good as that of players in Spain or even Italy.
"This isn't just a problem with our team. The overall environment here is like that, and we need to adapt to it!"
Mourinho had understood the bigger picture from a small detail and had immediately applied it elsewhere.
"I think you should bring in more technically skilled youth coaches from abroad.
"That will help our academy.
"I believe Manchester United's academy also focuses on technical details. Otherwise, no matter how good their off-the-ball movement system is, their combinations would never be so smooth!"
Ethan immediately understood that Mourinho's previous mistake had been overestimating the general level of English football's technical environment.
It was worth remembering that when Mourinho later took over Chelsea, the Premier League had already begun a technical revolution led by Arsenal. By then, Chelsea had long moved away from the traditional open English style of play.
"By the way, I want Alberto and that Argentinian to join our academy program!"
After saying that, Mourinho seemed to have found a breakthrough in solving his problems and turned to leave the training ground.
"Hey, José!" Ethan called out.
He felt that his idea of encouraging Mourinho to go for a walk had been correct, but he could not let him simply go back and bury himself in work again.
Ethan immediately caught up with him.
"Are you interested in going somewhere?"
Mourinho was a little surprised. His mind was currently filled with work, and he still had many things he wanted to tell his assistants.
"I promise it will also be very helpful for your work!" Ethan said with a smile.
Mourinho thought for a moment, nodded, and followed him.
The two went to the car park, got into the car, drove straight out of the Newton Heath training base, and headed toward the city centre.
...
Although it was afternoon, Walsh's pub still had quite a few customers.
Over the past two years, this place had become a gathering spot for New Manchester United supporters. In Manchester city centre, aside from this pub, more and more pubs had replaced their old flags with the green-and-gold striped Red Rebels flag.
Manchester City were undoubtedly still the most popular club in this old industrial city, and Manchester United remained the most powerful giant in English football, but the rise of New Manchester United was destined to create a third force among Manchester's supporters.
Ethan's car stopped steadily at the entrance of the pub.
He believed Mourinho must be visiting a place like this for the first time, but he did not need to go inside to guess what those loyal New Manchester United supporters were discussing.
He used to do these things all the time, so he understood it very well.
"Hey, Jack, how's that big drum you were supposed to prepare?" someone shouted inside as soon as they entered the pub.
"It's ready! I guarantee we'll show those Chesterfield bastards what we're made of!" another person replied.
"That's right. We can't let those cowards think we're easy to bully just because our team is near the relegation zone.
"We're a team aiming to win the title, and the league has only just started.
"We need to show them our strength and let them know that we are the Red Rebels, the Red Rebels who never give up!" someone else shouted.
"Then what do we do about that Portuguese bloke? Should we boo him?"
"Yeah, the media outside are all saying he's useless, much worse than Bruce..."
"Rubbish! Since when can you believe what the media say?
"The more they say that, the more we should support the Portuguese.
"Remember what Ethan said back then? He found us a manager stronger than Bruce. He also said the Portuguese would become New Manchester United's Ferguson one day.
"That's Ferguson, lads! Do you think Manchester United supporters would boo Ferguson?"
"So we should applaud him?"
"Of course! The team is going through a difficult period right now. We need to stand together and get through it together!"
"All right, then. I'll tell everyone.
"We'll make those Chesterfield fans who are waiting to laugh at us lose their voices instead!"
As soon as those words were spoken, laughter erupted throughout the pub.
Clearly, the members of the Red Rebels supporters' club still had great confidence in the team. Even when the outside world was deeply pessimistic about New Manchester United, their passion for the club had not changed. They still supported the team without reservation.
"Want to go in for a drink, José?" Ethan asked, looking at Mourinho provocatively.
They were standing at the entrance, separated from the inside by a slightly open door. Before the loud music started again, they could hear the conversations inside clearly.
"Of course. Why not?" Mourinho smiled.
"I'll go in and buy them a drink, and tell them that we'll win the next match, and we'll win it beautifully!"
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)