Losing to Ascoli cast a shadow over Sampdoria's new season.
The media outlets that had previously hyped up Dejan Lu were now unanimously questioning his footballing ability.
There were also doubts about Boskov.
After all, Dejan Lu had been dazzling at his unveiling ceremony, yet he had never made the matchday squad.
There was plenty of speculation about that.
Gigi Riva had even openly voiced his doubts during an interview. He told reporters, "I don't know what Boskov is thinking, but I do know he must regret it now. If Cagliari hadn't failed to gain promotion to Serie A, he never would have had the chance to get Dejan."
After seeing that interview, Lothar Matthäus said dismissively, "An eighteen-year-old should be cleaning the first team's boots, not trying to become some savior."
Klinsmann said nothing when he heard that.
The three Germans had only been at Inter Milan for one season, and they were still in their honeymoon period.
Still, he and Brehme had plenty to say about Matthäus's mouth.
Matthäus really was an asshole. If you took issue with him, you would end up brawling with him every day.
Before Bayern kicked him out, Matthäus had once shouted at a women's basketball player, "Have you seen the Black guy's thing on the team? It's this long."
One sentence from him could offend a whole lot of people.
At this point, the fact that Matthäus had not yet been completely despised by Inter Milan's players definitely had something to do with his terrible Italian.
"We should still be careful. Sampdoria aren't weak. They have quite a few world champions."
Zenga reminded them.
"Did ugly defending steal the championship?"
Matthäus shot back.
Zenga: ...
Did this fucking guy even realize what he had just said in front of Italian players?
Brehme sensed that something was wrong and quickly pushed Matthäus away.
If he said a few more words, they would not need to play the match. This guy would get beaten into the hospital by his teammates.
Giovanni Trapattoni had witnessed everything that happened on the training ground. The Italian manager with the most trophies truly had a love-hate relationship with Matthäus.
How the fuck did such a fine player end up with that kind of mouth?
Even if his manner was not especially irritating.
Matthäus was simply too strong.
Even looking across the entire history of football, Trapattoni had never seen a player in the back line stronger than Matthäus. More importantly, the guy was a beast in attack.
His physical attributes were freakish.
Bale passing to himself three seconds in the future was shocking?
Matthäus would knock the ball more than fifty meters ahead during a dribble past an opponent, then crush him with sheer speed!
Half his shots were absolute rockets.
He was the man credited with the legendary 210-kilometers-per-hour shot.
Carlos's shots only reached a little over 140 kilometers per hour.
A player like that created enough pressure just by swinging his leg.
The media of this era loved comparing him to Diego Maradona.
People only said his character was poor; no one ever questioned his footballing ability.
Trapattoni was quite interested in Dejan Lu, but he did not think the youngster could compare to Matthäus.
It was like Ødegaard becoming famous in football, drawing the attention of many giants, and signing for Real Madrid at fifteen on a high salary of fifty thousand euros. Even then, anyone in their right mind would not think he was as good as the best stars of that time.
A prodigy's path to growth was to first fulfill his potential, become a team regular, make the national team, transfer to a domestic giant, and only then begin his Serie A journey.
There was a huge gap between all those stages.
What Trapattoni was curious about was whether that Yugoslav counterpart of his would put the youngster in the squad under such pressure.
If it were him, he definitely would not put Dejan Lu in the matchday squad.
If you wanted to develop a player properly, there was no reason to throw him straight into the most difficult match possible.
Napoli were strong enough, right?
Inter Milan had a player on Maradona's level, plus a whole bunch of big names.
In terms of strength alone, Inter Milan were one of the strongest teams in Serie A, far more formidable than Napoli.
At this point, both Milan clubs could be called cosmic teams.
If an eighteen-year-old youngster took the pitch, he would probably be kicked into tears and sent off within ten minutes.
Manchester, England.
British interest in Serie A came from Italia '90.
Gazza's outstanding performances drew the attention of Italian clubs, and only then did they begin broadcasting Serie A.
Even though the Italian league was incredibly dominant in those days, the British still had little interest in Serie A. The empire on which the sun never set was just that proud.
Recently, however, Ferguson had been paying close attention to Italian football.
This season, he had already fallen into a crisis that could cost him his job. Last season, he had spent 1.8 million Pound Sterling to bring back Mark Hughes, only to win nothing, finishing just eleventh in the league.
Manchester United's performances at the start of the new season had not been much better.
That made him question England's flat 4-4-2, and the idea of making his team's tactics more continental had begun to take shape.
The English league held little appeal for Serie A players.
So naturally, he set his sights on players outside the major clubs.
To him, Sampdoria were practically a fairy tale. It was like Southampton assembling a world-class squad, something that could never happen in the English First Division, even if they had Alan Shearer.
More importantly, based on information he had obtained through friends, he felt Sampdoria really were a good team.
At most, their players smoked.
Yes, players smoking felt like a trivial matter to him. After all, plenty of players drank heavily right in the dressing room in those days. Since arriving at Manchester United, he had only barely managed to persuade the players to put down their bottles for the time being, with the help of captain Robson.
"Boss, are we still going to keep an eye on Cerezo? He's too old." Archie Knox asked. He had been Ferguson's assistant during their time with the Scotland national team.
"Young players won't want to come to England."
Ferguson said mockingly.
When he had managed Aberdeen, he could still play in European competitions. Now British teams had completely lost touch with the world.
"Fine. After the match, I'll find a way to get you a videotape."
Knox said.
As the best league in the world, Serie A was being watched by plenty of managers.
And so, September 8 arrived.
The day before the fourth round of the league.
Just as training was about to end, an assistant coach came over with a sheet of paper and read aloud, "Roberto Mancini, Mannini, Vialli, Pari... Dejan."
When he called out Dejan Lu's name last, a wave of teasing erupted across the training ground.
His teammates were all happy for Dejan Lu.
In their eyes, Dejan Lu should have made the matchday squad long ago.
Boskov stood at the side of the pitch and said with a smile, "You could say this is what everyone wanted, right?"
"Of course!" Pezzotti nodded. "Times have changed. Young people are developing too quickly. Maybe in the future, youth team players will already attract plenty of attention."
Boskov shook his head.
Wasn't that nonsense?
Fifteen- or sixteen-year-old kids had not even finished developing physically. If they started playing with adults that early, injuries would drag them down sooner or later.
"Dejan, shouldn't you treat us to something?"
Vialli shouted.
"Yeah, this kid has been eating all over the place without spending a cent!" Roberto Mancini complained.
Dejan Lu said with a smile, "That's because I'm popular. Everyone likes treating me. But this time, I'll definitely pay. After the match, you decide where we eat and what we eat!"
Cheers immediately erupted across the training ground.
The match was tomorrow, after all. They could not go out and gorge themselves today.
When Monica heard the news after returning home that evening, she finally let out a sigh of relief.
The day before a match, he had to abstain, right?
The next day, Monica got up early to put on makeup and cook.
By the time Dejan Lu woke up, the meal was already on the table, and there was even a rose.
"Where did this come from?"
Dejan Lu asked curiously.
"Roberto gave Federica some roses, so I asked for one." Monica said with a coquettish smile.
Dejan Lu gave her a thumbs-up.
Roberto Mancini bought the roses, and they got to enjoy them while his family talked about love.
With such a thrifty family tradition, it would be an insult to Roberto Mancini if they did not become the richest family in football after retirement.
Before you continue