Football: After listening to the advice, I became the strongest free man! - Chapter 393

c393 Major mistakes in transfer operations!

From the process, the negotiation between the two sides went smoothly. After two months of long negotiations, both Manchester United and Real Madrid have almost confirmed De Gea’s transfer. Many local media such as the Spanish National Television have made it clear that Real Madrid and Manchester United have officially completed the deal on this matter, and De Gea’s joining the White Army is a foregone conclusion.

The details revealed by other media are even richer. At that time, Navas, the main goalkeeper of the White Army, seemed to be added to the deal as a bonus to achieve the so-called exchange with De Gea.

But from the final result, everyone should have known that De Gea not only did not join Real Madrid, but also played for Manchester United until now.

Many fans must feel regretful: Why did a deal that seemed to be a foregone conclusion fall through at the last minute?

Is it that one of Real Madrid and Manchester United regretted temporarily, which caused De Gea’s transfer to fail?

After many disclosures later, De Gea’s transfer has actually been very smooth. Until the last minute, neither Manchester United nor Real Madrid changed their attitude towards this deal.

But what is hard to imagine is that it was the problem of Real Madrid’s “hardware facilities” that caused the transaction to go wrong at the last minute.

In this way, De Gea, who was supposed to step into the Bernabeu, returned to Manchester United at the last minute. The Spanish goalkeeper, who once forced a strike and was even sent to the stands by coach Van Gaal, still appeared in the main list of the Red Devils in the new season, and later renewed his contract with Manchester United and has been staying at the Theatre of Dreams ever since.

And Navas, who was rumored to join Manchester United as a bonus, did not go. The Costa Rican goalkeeper played for Real Madrid until the 2018-19 season, and then joined Paris Saint-Germain.

What happened in it that made the transfer that was originally set in stone change so dramatically?

In fact, the reason is very simple. According to reports from the Spanish media, Real Madrid had completed De Gea’s registration documents, but they failed to submit the registration documents to the headquarters of the Spanish Football Professional League in time.

According to the relevant regulations of La Liga, all teams need to submit transfer registration documents to La Liga officials before 0:00 am local time on September 1. However, the documents submitted by Real Madrid did not appear at the La Liga headquarters until 00:28 in the morning of September 1, which was 28 minutes overdue.

There is another saying that the timeout for De Gea’s registration documents was shorter, even only one minute overdue, and there is an exaggerated saying that it was only 20 seconds overdue.

However, these claims have not been officially verified, and there may be the possibility that the media exaggerated the traffic. But in any case, it is a fact that De Gea was not able to join Real Madrid because of some inexplicable equipment factors.

Why would such an important transfer event be submitted on the line?

Real Madrid and Manchester United are both top-tier clubs with a great reputation in the world football. Why would they make such a low-level mistake in handling such a major event as a player transfer?

From the perspective of Real Madrid, it is more believed that Manchester United made major mistakes in the process of handling the transfer operation. “AS” publicly stated that the reason why De Gea was not successfully signed was entirely because Manchester United sent the relevant registration documents to Real Madrid too late.

They said that Manchester United sent De Gea’s relevant registration documents to Real Madrid from August 31 to 23:59. However, due to a malfunction of the fax, the document did not appear on the table of the La Liga League as scheduled, causing De Gea to fail to pass the registration at the last minute.

Manchester United’s response was also straightforward and direct, and the problem was entirely on Real Madrid’s side.

Manchester United also issued a statement on social media, saying that the relevant statements of “AS” were completely groundless, and they sent the documents to Real Madrid within the specified time in full compliance with relevant regulations.

The real problem was Real Madrid’s own fax machine. When Real Madrid uploaded the file, the fax machine malfunctioned and ultimately failed to complete the relevant steps in time.

In response to Manchester United’s statement, AS responded again. Their reporter wrote that Manchester United did send the file to Real Madrid on time, but the file format they sent had obvious problems, which caused the relevant staff of Real Madrid to be unable to open it using the operating system. After several entanglements, a lot of time was wasted and they finally missed the registration.

At the same time, the media supporting Real Madrid broke another detail, believing that De Gea’s deal was inextricably linked to Navas.

They believe that after De Gea’s transfer deal was officially confirmed, Real Madrid and Manchester United negotiated the details of Navas’ transfer again.

But at this time, Navas and his agent expressed dissatisfaction with some details in the specific contract, which forced Real Madrid to make changes at the last minute, thus wasting a lot of time.

There are still many different opinions about the specific details of De Gea’s deal, but we can at least be sure that neither Real Madrid nor Manchester United were greatly affected by this deal.

De Gea later made it clear:

“I think at that moment, extending the contract with Manchester United was the best thing for me. I am really happy to continue to stay in the world’s largest club, where I feel the love of the fans for me.”

To this day, De Gea still plays for Manchester United. His performance may not be as good as his peak period, but he is still a vital link in the Red Devils’ defense.

Although Navas did not join Manchester United, he has proved his strength with outstanding performances in Paris Saint-Germain since then, and now he has performed well in Paris, France.

The farce of De Gea’s failed transfer was embarrassing enough, but what people did not expect was that Real Madrid once again failed at a critical moment due to the problem of the fax machine, which even directly affected the team’s performance.

The story still happened in 2015, in the first round of the King’s Cup 1/16 finals in the 2015-16 season.

Real Madrid challenged Cadiz, a team in the third-level league, away. Due to the huge gap in strength between the two sides, the White Army did not send out a strong BBC combination in that game, and their defensive backbone Ramos was also absent due to injuries.

The White Army only used a half-main lineup in that game, and the Russian winger Cheryshev entered the starting lineup after a long absence.

But what people did not expect was that this Russian winger, who did not play much time in the White Army, caused a lot of trouble because of this start, and the reason was actually from Real Madrid’s fax machine.

Cheryshev played for Villarreal in La Liga in the 2014-15 season.

In that season, the Russian winger should be automatically suspended for one game because he received three yellow cards in the King’s Cup.

Even if he joins Real Madrid in the new season, according to the relevant regulations of the La Liga League, this suspension penalty will not be cancelled due to the player’s transfer, and Cheryshev should continue to serve this suspension in the new season of Real Madrid.

But the embarrassing thing is that the relevant team of Real Madrid did not seem to be prepared in advance. They did not realize that Cheryshev still had to accept the fact that the competition was still necessary.

In the 1/16 final against Cadiz, Cheryshev still started the game and scored a goal in that game. With Isco’s double goal, Real Madrid defeated the opponent 3:1 away.

However, according to the relevant regulations of La Liga, even if the White Army won that game, the victory would be evaluated by the La Liga League due to the violation of the appearance, and it is likely to be cancelled.

Relevant institutions quickly found the statistics of the Royal Spanish Football Association on the yellow cards received by the team last season. Among them, Cheryshev did receive three yellow cards in the King’s Cup during his time at Villarreal:

The second leg of the 1/8 finals drew 2:2 with Real Sociedad, the second leg of the 1/4 finals defeated Getafe 1:0, and the second leg of the semi-finals lost 1:3 to Barcelona. In these three games, the Russian received a yellow card in each game, and according to regulations, he will be suspended in the next King’s Cup.

However, since Villarreal was eliminated after the semi-finals, Cheryshev did not implement this suspension that season.

But as long as he will participate in the King’s Cup, no matter which team he goes to, he needs to continue to implement this punishment.

Cheryshev’s name is also on the list of suspension reports on the Royal Football Association’s official website, so Real Madrid should not be so-called unaware.

On December 4, 2015, Beijing time, after a thorough investigation, the Spanish Football Association Disciplinary Committee issued an official statement that Real Madrid was eliminated 0:3 due to the use of suspended player Cheryshev in the King’s Cup match against Cadiz.

This also means that although Real Madrid won 3:1 in the real game, it left the King’s Cup that season early because of the violation of the player’s use.

Back to that game, in fact, Real Madrid had already discovered the fact that Cheryshev had violated the rules in the middle of the game. At the beginning of the second half, Real Madrid’s then-coach Benítez replaced him with Kovacic, which was obviously an attempt to remedy the situation.

At the end of the game, Real Madrid’s top management also defended the team: “The team’s fax machine had a problem and was unable to receive the player’s suspension issue sent by the Spanish Football Association.”

According to Marca, as early as July 27, the Spanish Football Association sent faxes to various clubs to inform the team of the suspension of each player. Looking through the fax record, it clearly states that Cheryshev needs to be suspended for one game in this season’s Copa del Rey due to accumulated yellow cards last season. Even if Real Madrid did not receive the La Liga competition report on July 27 due to the fax machine problem, the game will not be until early December. In the intervening months, does Real Madrid have no awareness to check the suspension of its players? Obviously, the so-called fax machine problem is actually an excuse.

Former La Liga referee Gonzalez later said that Cheryshev’s problem had been discovered before the game started. The player who should have been suspended in that game actually appeared in Real Madrid’s starting lineup.

The former La Liga referee immediately warned Real Madrid that Cheryshev was not eligible to participate in this Copa del Rey game.

But unfortunately, Gonzalez said that although he sent a fax to Real Madrid, indicating that Cheryshev was not eligible to participate in that game, he still had no way to contact anyone in the club, and he did not receive any reply to the fax he sent.

Although Real Madrid officials have always rejected the punishment from the La Liga and even expressed their intention to appeal, their chairman Florentino also held a press conference, saying that Cheryshev’s suspension was completely invalid and that Real Madrid had no problems.

But in any case, the fact has been established. Real Madrid did violate the rules set by the Football Association and illegally sent out players who needed to be suspended.

Therefore, although the White Army actively defended themselves afterwards, their efforts did not work and they were still ruled out in the end.

After this incident, Real Madrid’s management errors and embarrassing excuses were ridiculed by many peers.

After detailed data collection, some media clearly stated that there was actually no problem with Real Madrid’s fax machine. The reason why they frequently used this as an excuse was just to cover up the chaos in their management.

“Marca” also published an article later stating that Rayo Vallecano’s goalkeeper Tonio suffered a serious injury in the La Liga in November. After the operation, he received a lot of blessings through the fax machine, including Real Madrid.

“As” also wrote that there was no problem with any fax machine in Real Madrid. These things should have been the responsibility of the sports manager, but this position in Real Madrid has been vacant, which led to the team’s repeated problems in the specific operation process.

As the fax machine incident became more and more popular in the football world, many subsequent events of Real Madrid were linked to the fax machine.

However, after identification, many of them were false stories fabricated by the media to earn traffic, so they were not included in this article.

Overall, De Gea’s failed transfer that year was indeed due to the fax machine problem, but we don’t know whether it was Real Madrid’s fax machine that had a problem or Manchester United’s fax machine.

According to Real Madrid’s explanation, Cheryshev’s suspension time seemed to come from the fax machine error, but according to the analysis of many media, it seems that more of the reason was due to the team’s management errors, and the so-called fax machine was more of a scapegoat.

But in any case, any great club will inevitably make mistakes in some small details, which is a completely unavoidable fact. Even a top giant like Real Madrid with rich management experience can hardly escape such an embarrassing reality.

But from another perspective, timely compensation and improvement may also prevent the team from making mistakes in bigger events. After all, although De Gea did not join the team, Real Madrid’s strength was not damaged.

And the early exit from the King’s Cup may have some morale-destroying effects, but it is indeed not a big deal for Real Madrid, which is aiming for La Liga and the Champions League.

Real Madrid has attached great importance to defense since Mourinho, especially low-position defense. On the other hand, the attacking power is also guaranteed by speed. After the training of Ancelotti and Zidane, it is stronger than Mourinho, that is, the traditional “attack and defense”. So for a long time, Real Madrid has been a frequent visitor to the Champions League semi-finals.

This style allows Real Madrid to maintain the bottom line in the strong dialogue, and to deliver a fatal blow through counterattack or speed.

So you will find that in the three consecutive years of the Champions League, Real Madrid had some ugly scenes but could win. They often make reserves to make themselves in the best state in a strong dialogue. In the league process, the long season makes it impossible for them to maintain such a high level.

Because facing weak teams, Real Madrid naturally becomes the main attacking side, and the unfamiliar high-position defense is easy to be counterattacked and conceded goals. This is why Real Madrid easily loses points against weak teams in the league.

On the other hand, because of Guardiola’s success, the entire club is actually obsessed with high-pressure pressing. In the heyday, the central defenders stood in the opponent’s half, like two forwards.

Through airtight passes and counter-grabs, the opponents are desperate. This style will make Barcelona’s games look good, and Barcelona will always be the main controller of football on the field. So when it’s good, Barcelona can often run parallel in multiple tracks in the league and cup.

But there are also hidden dangers.

First, the requirements for players are high: everyone must have good skills and tacit understanding;

Second, the low-position defense is poor, because Barcelona’s central defenders need to pass better than the lower ones, and a lot of their defensive pressure is allocated to high-pressure pressing and midfield control. Third, if the opponent defends well, it will be difficult for Barcelona to score.

From Enrique’s late period to now, with the aging of the players, Barcelona’s midfield control and high-pressure pressing have declined significantly, and the back line is getting farther and farther back. The back line alone cannot withstand the impact of the team.

Valverde has been playing 442 in the low position, and he also saw that Barcelona no longer has the advantage of high position (the first line Messi, Suarez runs less; the second line is a loser, the professor can’t control it), but the low position was broken by Atletico Madrid and Roma one after another. Valverde has been encouraging everyone to attack, but the team can’t do anything when facing the younger Liverpool 9.

And 8:2 is just the result of the more impactful Bayern defeating the Barcelona defenders who are one year older.

Back to the problem itself, the players’ excellence is based on the team. Ronaldo has excellent running, speed and goal efficiency, which is very suitable for teams that counterattack and cross play. Real Madrid is in line with it, and Zidane and Ancelotti’s training of the team enables the team to do its best in key dialogues.

Barcelona, ​​when its control power declined, there was no suitable personnel to supplement, and the overall strength has actually been declining. Several coaches have also proposed their own solutions, but all failed. Messi’s retreat can alleviate the problem, but it cannot solve the problem. Later, it can be said that Messi’s appearance is the lower limit of the team.

When Messi faced a weak team at this time, because the team’s defenders and midfielders were not under much pressure, they could support the forwards. This is why everyone said that Messi was a bully; when facing a strong team, they were right in front of your door, and your defenders and midfielders could not support the forwards. This is why Messi could not fight a tough battle.

It can be said that the defenders and midfielders of the Real Madrid team at that time were strong, so the forwards would also be strong.

When facing a strong team, Barcelona had difficulty in passing the ball to the defenders, weak midfield control, and the forwards would not perform well, and there was also the burden of the “Triple Crown”.