The Dilemma of Youth Team Coach Chivu, He Wants to Quit!

Assistant coach Herrera spoke with absolute certainty, his spit flying as he talked.

Clearly, he had already read the comprehensive evaluation report on Tang Long in detail before submitting it to Mancini.

Mancini did not respond.

After carefully reading through the twenty-plus pages of the report, he remained noncommittal.

He flipped through a few pages haphazardly from start to finish, appearing somewhat distracted.

Finally, he tossed the report onto the desk and leaned back in his wide leather chair with a tactical stretch.

Watching Mancini's body sway back and forth with the chair, Herrera assumed his superior was deeply disappointed by the strength Tang Long had displayed in the report!

"Boss, it's really no big deal. He's just a kid on a 400,000 euro annual salary. Even if we accidentally signed a dud, it wouldn't cause the club any major losses. It's fine."

Mancini pulled out his cigarette case and clamped a cigar between his teeth.

He rested his hands behind his head, watching his assistant coach with great interest.

"I was the one who insisted on giving Tang Long a first-team professional contract. Aren't you worried that Sporting Director Ausilio will come looking for trouble with me?"

According to procedure, this report on Tang Long was meant to be submitted to Inter Milan Sporting Director Ausilio.

The purpose was to ensure the management could keep track of the young players within the team in a timely manner.

Specifically, it was to prevent the promotion of "nepotism cases" from the youth academy!

Italy was inherently a society built on personal connections, the place in all of Europe where relationships mattered most.

Many children with average talent but wealthy backgrounds would have their parents use various methods to pull strings if they wanted to play, just to satisfy their child's dream of playing professional football.

Since the Indonesian businessman Thohir took charge of Inter Milan, he had implemented standardized reforms at the club, strictly controlling all unnecessary financial expenditures.

In particular, he demanded the elimination of any nepotism.

Therefore, when assistant coach Herrera heard Mancini mention Ausilio, his imagination immediately ran wild!

"So that's how it really is..." Although Herrera kept a straight face, his heart skipped a beat.

In truth, when Mancini first gave Tang Long a first-team contract, Herrera had been completely unable to understand it!

From his technical perspective, Tang Long simply did not possess the strength to play for the first team.

And his own overly simple coaching resume—having never been the head coach of a team, always serving as an assistant—made him even less capable of seeing that Mancini's original intention in bringing Tang Long into the first team was to suppress Guarin and anyone else who opposed him, thereby establishing his own authority in the locker room.

This little Italian old man simply assumed, based on his own upbringing in a small Italian town, that Tang Long was actually a product of nepotism!

If he wasn't a beneficiary of connections, why would Mancini promote him from the youth team and give him a professional contract the moment he arrived at Inter Milan?

This was the limitation of an assistant coach.

Although Herrera was three years older than Mancini and had played in Serie A during his own career, he was far inferior to his superior, Mancini, when it came to both controlling the locker room and discerning a player's potential!

He could neither see Tang Long's role in the locker room nor perceive the intent behind the "divine moves" Tang Long had performed multiple times during matches.

"Boss, I understand, but it doesn't matter. Ausilio is just a slacker. He flies around the world all day claiming to scout new signings, but everyone knows he's just on a government-funded vacation. He'll definitely turn a blind eye to this; he won't care at all!"

Mancini sneered, looking at him with utter disdain.

Thinking he had said the wrong thing, Herrera quickly added:

"If it really comes to that, we can redo the report and send it back, telling the coaching staff and team doctors to rewrite it!"

Watching Herrera's nervous expression, Mancini couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Haha, talk nonsense! Herrera, you've been with me for four years, how have you made zero progress?"

"Submit this report to Ausilio exactly as it is."

At the end of the report, Mancini began writing furiously, scribbling a long paragraph in one go.

Chivu had been feeling very frustrated lately.

In a recently concluded Italian U19 youth league match, Inter Milan had lost 1-4 away to their arch-rivals, Juventus!

What made Chivu even more frustrated than losing to their rivals was the argument he had with head coach Laino during the match.

In the 74th minute of the second half, Inter Milan was already trailing 1-3.

After discussing it with Chivu, Laino agreed that if they didn't strengthen their attack and pull one goal back, the match would enter garbage time.

The two reached a consensus on strengthening the attack, but they disagreed on who should be substituted in!

Laino: "I'm bringing on the forward Chris to play with three strikers and strengthen the attack!"

Chivu: "Chris lacks speed. I think we should bring on the midfielder Morey, then release Ledesma and push him up to the wing!"

Laino: "Release Ledesma? He's been sitting in jail for the whole match, and you're still counting on him?"

Chivu: "That's exactly why I want to release him. Laino, sometimes when you're trailing, you don't necessarily need to put on another forward. We need to revitalize the midfield first. Morey! Go warm up now, you're going on in a minute!"

Laino: "Wait! Morey, sit down! Chris, get out there! Who exactly is the head coach here? Chivu, please adjust your attitude!"

The two were arguing incessantly on the bench.

The players on the pitch were a bit bewildered; if the people on the bench hadn't pulled them apart in time, Chivu and Laino might have even come to blows!

Of course, U19 head coach Laino ultimately emerged victorious in this dispute.

However, just as Chivu had anticipated, the effect of the substitution was not apparent at all.

After forward Chris was subbed on, he failed to make any impact.

Juventus U19 scored another goal in the 82nd minute, and the match completely entered garbage time.

On the high-speed train from Turin back to Milan.

Although Chivu and Laino were sitting together, neither of them said a word.

The final straw that broke the camel's back had finally appeared!

This argument over the in-game lineup was actually just the fuse, but it caused a complete rupture between the two!

Laino had always resented assistant coach Chivu for leveraging his status as an Inter Milan legend to challenge the head coach's authority.

In particular, Chivu bypassing him to renew Tang Long's youth contract had made him furious with embarrassment!

As for Chivu, he scoffed at Laino's outdated 1990s tactical style.

In short, the two could not stand each other!

As soon as he returned to Milan at 10 p.m., Chivu immediately wanted to resign.

He had truly had enough of the grievances!

However, Chivu did not call Sporting Director Ausilio, but instead dialed Mancini's number.

As soon as the call connected, before Mancini could even speak, Chivu launched into a tirade!

"Respected Mr. Mancini, I want to inform you of a decision: I am prepared to submit my resignation tomorrow! I simply cannot continue working in the youth team; I cannot work with an old fossil like Laino. Our football philosophies are just too different!"