Monday, eight o'clock in the morning.
The first-team coaching staff had gathered in the meeting room at Inter Milan's training ground.
As usual, they reviewed the previous match the morning after the game, before training.
They had made bold claims before the match, promising to beat their opponents—and then they'd lost!
Worse, they'd lost to their domestic archrivals, Juventus. Their four-game winning streak had come to an end, and Inter Milan had slipped from sixth to seventh in the standings, temporarily falling behind Lazio.
The coaching staff were all in low spirits.
The atmosphere in the meeting room was oppressive. Even the magpies chattering in the Oak Forest outside the window seemed to be mocking them~
Chirp, chirp~
Mancini was still puffing on his cigar. A few others in the room were smoking too, and the whole place was thick with smoke.
If the groundskeeper hadn't covered the meeting room's smoke detectors long ago, the Italian fire brigade would have been on its way by now.
"You've gone quiet now that we've lost. When we were on that four-game winning streak, you were all so eager to speak up! Come on, Herrera, you start!"
Mancini, for his part, seemed completely unruffled.
The coaching staff members took turns speaking in order.
Chivu also presented the analysis video he'd stayed up late preparing the night before.
At the meeting, Herrera focused his criticism on Tang Long's performance.
In his view, Tang Long had been too impatient, always hoping one pass would send Icardi through on goal.
"What kind of team are Juventus? They're not Bologna, and they're certainly not Genoa! You think one pass can split the defense of the Italian national team players at Juventus? Not even Tang Long could do that. Even Sneijder in his prime wouldn't have had that