Inter Milan coaching staff issues a comprehensive evaluation report on Tang Long!

Inter Milan has achieved two consecutive victories in the last two rounds of the league.

This has allowed them to climb from 9th to 8th place in the standings.

During the era of Mazzarri, two consecutive wins were actually not a good omen.

It is quite pathetic to say!

In the year and a half that Mazzarri coached Inter Milan.

The team never managed to secure three consecutive league wins!

The third match after two wins would inevitably result in a collapse; whether playing against a strong team or a relegation candidate, it was either a draw or a loss.

This has also caused Mancini, sitting in the head coach's office, some concern.

The Indonesian owner, Thohir, brought Mancini back, and his assessment task is to lead Inter Milan back to the UEFA Champions League!

Although Thohir believes that the chances of Inter Milan reaching the UEFA Champions League this season are slim to none.

"Mr. Mancini, given that the Inter Milan you are about to take over is ranked 9th in the league, in order to better help you complete the assessment task of entering next season's UEFA Champions League, I suggest you focus on the UEFA Europa League."

Mancini understood what the boss meant.

In recent years, due to the weakness of Serie A teams in European competitions.

The UEFA Champions League qualification spots for the Serie A league have actually slipped from four to three.

It is the same as Ligue 1 now!

Trying to qualify for the UEFA Champions League through the league with the team's current roster is extremely difficult!

However, Mancini bit the bullet and responded to Thohir:

"Boss, please trust me. I believe that entering the top three in the league is not impossible. We have only played 9 games, and the team has huge room for improvement."

Mancini saying this naturally had his own hidden difficulties!

Looking back at his coaching career, Mancio has never been a coach skilled at managing teams in continental cup competitions.

During his first stint coaching Inter Milan, the team repeatedly stopped at the UEFA Champions League Round of 16.

His dismissal in 2008 was related to his record in the UEFA Champions League.

Inter Milan, which had just won the title the previous season with a club-record 97 points, failed to score a single goal over two legs and was soundly defeated 0-3 by Liverpool.

A disheartened Mancini even announced his resignation at the post-match press conference.

Even after arriving at the financially stronger Manchester City and being granted full authority to build the team.

Mancini's performance in the European arena was still lackluster!

In the 2010-2011 season, they lost to Dynamo Kyiv and stopped at the UEFA Europa League Round of 16.

In the 2011-2012 season, they finished 3rd in their UEFA Champions League group, dropped down to the UEFA Europa League, lost to Sporting CP, and stopped at the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 again.

In the 2012-2013 season, Manchester City, carrying the title of the new Premier League champions, made a comeback, and the whole world had high expectations for them.

Unexpectedly, they had 3 draws and 3 losses in 6 group matches, didn't win a single game, and finished bottom of the group to go home!

This time, they didn't even manage to secure a spot in the UEFA Europa League.

Therefore, when Mancini returned to Inter Milan in November 2014 and the boss explained his idea of entering the UEFA Champions League by winning the UEFA Europa League.

Hearing this "indirect approach" strategy, Mancini's heart tightened instantly—

That won't work!

Compared to European competitions, the league is the true specialty of this famous Italian coach.

For this reason, Mancini has been whispering in the ear of the team's sporting director, Ausilio, these days, demanding an increased budget in the winter transfer window to strengthen the team's depth.

"Ausilio, you are also a veteran of Serie A. Tell me, do you believe that Inter Milan's current personnel configuration can make it into the top three of the league?"

"I don't believe it, but the boss won't give money, and I'm just an employee; it's useless to ask me."

"I've made a commitment to the boss to reach the UEFA Champions League; can you really bear to see me die without helping?"

"I'll think of a way. We can operate through a 'loan first, buy later' method, and then negotiate a return at the end of the season—a bit of a rogue tactic. Otherwise, we can only sell key players first, sell before we buy, you know how it is."

"..."

Mancini had a massive headache.

The winter transfer window was about to open, and no matter how much he and Ausilio pushed, they only managed to scrape together a 10 million euro budget.

In the past, that wouldn't even cover Ibrahimovic's after-tax salary for one year at Inter Milan.

Having returned to a mainstream league from the Turkish Super Lig, Mancini had an urgent desire to prove himself.

He even liquidated all his assets in Turkey and spared no expense to purchase a 3 million euro detached luxury villa on the shores of Lake Como in Milan, preparing to stay in this city for a long time.

How to lead Inter Milan back to the UEFA Champions League became a mountain weighing on the heart of this famous Italian coach.

Since it is difficult to find good deals in the transfer market.

Internal development became a path Mancini had to take.

Mancini is not a coach who likes to use young players; apart from Balotelli, he has mostly used experienced veterans throughout his coaching career.

Bonazzoli from the youth team was the first youngster he had been forced to promote.

The results were disappointing; the guy had nothing but a physique, and his forward technique was truly crude—definitely at a Serie B level.

The arrival of Tang Long, however, was an accident.

Mancini increasingly found that there was a strange quality about Tang Long.

This quality was hard to define or explain.

It was mainly reflected in the fact that he could always create goals through a flash of inspiration!

If Tang Long's two threatening passes in the match against Genoa were just a fluke.

Then the day before yesterday, in the away game against Roma, Mancini gradually began to see the clues.

A player couldn't just be lucky all the time!

Especially when Tang Long received a pass from Hernanes and suddenly let it slip to Icardi, helping the latter score the fourth goal.

"How did he know which direction Icardi would make his run?"

At this moment, Mancini sat in front of his computer, repeatedly watching the replay on the screen.

Click, click.

He repeatedly clicked the pause button on the replay with his mouse.

He attempted to observe the rotation of Tang Long's head frame by frame.

But to Mancini's surprise—from start to finish, Tang Long's line of sight never once intersected with Icardi!

"Instinct, this is a kind of instinct for the overall situation; it's hard to explain, perhaps this is just talent!"

Mancini took out his phone.

He opened the text message Sneijder had sent him.

It was sent after the 11th round of Serie A, when Inter Milan played Genoa at home.

-[Dear Mr. Mancini, please forgive the intrusion. After watching this match, I would like to speak about Tang's performance from the perspective of a player who once played for Inter Milan.]

-[Tang's two passes—sorry, I want to use the word pass instead of shot—I know many people would think that, but I dare to assert that he was definitely passing!]

-[Tang's vision of the overall situation and his precise control over the game deeply fascinated me! His potential far exceeds that of other Inter Milan players. I believe that under your guidance, he will surely grow into a world-class star!]

Mancini had read this text message no fewer than ten times.

He had once suspected that the phone number was fake, or that some fan was playing a prank on him!

But after verifying with club officials, it was confirmed to be Sneijder's number.

"He speaks of him as if he were a god; is this guy Tang really that strong? If he were that strong, why didn't the head of the youth team mention this name to me when I first arrived at Inter Milan!"

It wasn't until he saw the replay of Tang Long's clever dummy on Bernardi's phone at the post-match press conference after the Roma game that he realized.

Mancini was shocked!

On this dummy, Tang hadn't even touched the ball.

Even the assist for this goal was credited to Hernanes.

But this heaven-defying dummy had created a different kind of vitality!

The situation had suddenly cleared up because of it.

It was simply master-level imagination!

"As expected of Sneijder, his eye for talent is even sharper than mine..." Mancini smiled happily.

Knock, knock, knock!

Assistant coach Herrera knocked on the door and entered.

"Boss, the report you wanted on Tang Long is ready."

According to Inter Milan's standard practice.

For every player promoted from the youth team to the first team, within ten days, the first-team coaching staff and medical team would evaluate the player's performance in training over those ten days and provide a comprehensive evaluation report to be submitted to the head coach for reference.

Mancini flipped it open.

The fitness coach had written two pages.

[Tang's physical fitness is extremely average; his muscle explosiveness and endurance are not enough to withstand 90 minutes of Serie A competition. Data shows...]

Mancini flipped to the back, which contained the technical coach's evaluation.

[There is a clear gap between Tang's basic skills and those of his teammates. Apart from short-pass accuracy, his long passing, shooting, ball control, heading, and other techniques are relatively crude and do not meet the selection standards for a Serie A player. Furthermore...]

Further back was the evaluation from the set-piece coach.

[After assessment, Tang's judgment of the ball's landing point during set-piece offense and defense is relatively accurate, but limited by his physical fitness, it is difficult for him to compete for the first ball...]

The medical officer's evaluation was even more direct.

[After analysis, Tang seems to have a long-term habit of staying up late; his dark circles are quite severe. During the conversation, the player claimed he was watching match recordings at night, but this claim is doubtful. It is speculated that the player has a habit of frequently going to nightclubs, which will seriously affect his physical development...]

Herrera looked at the frowning Mancini and tentatively said:

"Boss, according to the coaching staff's comprehensive analysis, Tang's strength, at its absolute peak, is only at the level of a Serie B benchwarmer!"