Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 102 Spalletti's Troubles

At the post-match press conference, Hamburg coach Labbadia was besieged by the German media, which made him lose his temper and want to leave immediately.

Spalletti, on the other hand, looked smug and answered the reporter's questions in a very friendly and polite manner.

The Italian media were equally pleased, seemingly in cahoots with Spalletti, showering Roma and Shan Yongzhuo with various accolades while also taking a jab at Guerrero, who had made bold pronouncements before the match but ended up sitting on the bench.

After the match, the team immediately returned to Rome; they cannot relax yet.

The league schedule is still very tight. Two days after returning to Rome, there is a league match against Bari. Shan Yongzhuo has also been included in the squad and traveled with the team to the away game.

Shan Yongzhuo was only on the bench, but Roma also performed very well. Thanks to Totti's goal after recovering from injury, they won a narrow away game against Bari and maintained their lead in the league standings.

The second leg against Hamburg is about to begin.

With a huge advantage from the first leg and playing at home, Roma can be said to be in a very comfortable position.

However, in order to ensure victory, Spalletti still fielded most of his key players, with Shan Yongzhuo also included in the starting lineup, partnering with Totti in the forward line.

Hamburg showed some fighting spirit at the start of the away game, with Van Nistelrooy scoring a goal in the 8th minute, giving Hamburg a glimmer of hope.

However, Shan Yongzhuo's goal in the 20th minute, coupled with Totti's goal in the 56th minute, completely shattered Hamburg's will, and the rest of the game was uneventful.

Despite Hamburg's tenacious attack, it was to no avail, and Roma ultimately defeated their opponents 2-1 at home.

Roma advanced to the Europa League semi-finals by defeating Hamburg 5-2 on aggregate.

In the post-match press conference, Spalletti spoke with great pride, saying, "The outcome was already decided in the first leg. There was no suspense in this match. We already had a two-goal advantage."

"The team played very well, and now we can prepare for the semi-finals. Fulham is not an easy opponent..."

Spalletti's words left the reporters speechless.

Is Fulham a tough opponent?
Roma defeated Fulham twice in the group stage, so how can they be considered a tough opponent?

Spalletti was just saying that; he actually looked down on Fulham.

Fulham is a Premier League team that performed exceptionally well last season, qualifying for the Europa League and advancing all the way to the semi-finals.

Such a performance was truly astonishing, but their knockout stage performance was still quite impressive, having eliminated Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, and Wolfsburg in succession, demonstrating a very strong showing.

Spalletti, however, was unconcerned and remained confident of defeating Fulham.

However, when the interview moved into the Q&A session, Spalletti's mood soured as reporters kept asking Shan Yongzhuo questions.

"Shan Yongzhuo set a new Europa League goal record after the reorganization and also broke the Serie A goal record. What do you think of his performance?"

Do you think Rome can retain Shan Yongzhuo?

"It's rumored that Liverpool are very interested in Shan Yongzhuo. Can you tell us more?"

"And Inter Milan, Juventus, Arsenal..."

"..."

Spalletti's face darkened, and he decided not to answer the questions, or even think about them.

Shan Yongzhuo left?

What would happen to Rome without Shan Yongzhuo?
Spalletti was still quite clear-headed. He believed that without Shan Yongzhuo, Roma wouldn't have been able to compete with Inter Milan for the league title. While they might have had a chance of reaching the Europa League semi-finals, it wouldn't have been this easy. In fact, Spalletti knew many clubs were interested in Shan Yongzhuo, but there was nothing he could do. Rosella was no longer concerned with the club's affairs; she was now solely focused on finding buyers to sell the club.

Moreover, it is very likely that the company will be sold at the end of the season. If no new owner takes over, the creditor of the Sensi family, United Credit Bank, will certainly not mind selling Shan Yongzhuo at a high price to pay off his debts.

Although Shan Yongzhuo's release clause is 5000 million euros, Spalletti believes that with Shan Yongzhuo's performance, many wealthy clubs would be willing to pay that amount. In his opinion, at least Moratti, that old man who likes to hoard strikers, would definitely be willing to spend the money.

Spalletti dared not imagine Shan Yongzhuo going to Inter Milan; Roma's defense would surely be riddled with bullets if they faced him.

However, a question suddenly came to Spalletti's mind.

"Yes, if I win all three titles this season, I'll be a great coach. So why would I stay in Rome next season?"

"As long as we have the order, who says we definitely won't get it?"

It was only at this point that Spalletti thought of this problem.

The change of ownership in Rome is not something that can be accomplished in a short time, and no one is sure what the future holds for Rome.

Spalletti doesn't have that deep loyalty to Roma; if he can win the three titles he can this season, he can become famous in Europe.

When the time comes, I'm sure I'll get invitations from top clubs, so why should I even consider Roma?
Thinking about it this way, Spalletti felt less sad.

Then Spalletti put his ideas into practice, becoming even stricter with the players during training, yelling at them for even the smallest mistakes.

This made the Roma players feel uneasy.

What's wrong with Luciano?

"He probably got a beating from his wife?"

"No way, we got beaten up again?"

Dan Yongzhuo and Tadai sat on the grass, whispering amongst themselves.

Of course, Shan Yongzhuo felt that this might not be the reason; it was more likely that a certain streetwalker had not satisfied Spalletti.

However, Spalletti saw the two of them.

"Rodriggo, this isn't break time! No slacking off!"

"It's good to take a break, but remember to balance work and rest..."

Spalletti's attitude left Taddei and the others feeling helpless. They were just being lazy, while Shan Yongzhuo was balancing work and rest.
"I'm a star player too! This is so unfair!"

But when he thought about Shan Yongzhuo's goal, Taddei felt that if he were the head coach, he would probably do the same.

Shan Yongzhuo has scored 48 goals in Serie A and 19 goals in the Europa League, making him the team's key player.

Own……

Although he can secure a starting position on the wing, his performance is only average, without any particularly outstanding moments. In fact, there are plenty of players in the transfer market who could replace him.

Thinking about it this way, Taddei felt that he was still a long way from being a star player.

(End of this chapter)