Green Field Eunuch

Chapter 65 Mourinho's Words
When it comes to joining the national team, Shan Yongzhuo's consideration is quite simple: if he can score more goals after joining, it would be a good thing to help the national team improve its performance.

However, it's too early to talk about this now; we need to receive the conscription notice first.

After returning to Rome, Shan Yongzhuo also felt a bit tired. Playing away games that require long-distance air travel is quite exhausting.

After that, the team only did simple recovery training. Totti even suffered some injuries during training, but fortunately they were minor and he was fine after two weeks of rest.

However, Spalletti still felt a headache.

The team already had few available strikers, and now with Totti injured, there are even fewer available, plus the pressure of the league is immense.

Inter Milan played very strongly, and Roma fell behind if they relaxed even slightly.

Before the November international break, the team has three league matches and a Europa League group stage match against Fulham at home. With four matches to play in just nine days, the pressure is immense.

Furthermore, they will be going to the San Siro on November 9th to challenge Inter Milan.

Spalletti had to make a choice, and for the next away game against Udinese, he fielded a reserve team.

However, Shan Yongzhuo still made it into the starting lineup; there was simply not enough players in the forward line.

Shan Yongzhuo had no objections; he was actually hoping to have more matches.

However, his performance in this match was somewhat disappointing. The continuous matches had left him physically fatigued, and he only managed to score one point with the Mighty Vajra Leg, while he was unable to effectively utilize the Whirlwind Ground Leg and Ghost Shadow Grappling Hand.

Roma only managed a 1-1 draw against Udinese away from home.

Although they failed to win and fell two points behind Inter Milan in the standings, Spalletti was still able to accept the result.

The league is a long process, not something that can be won in a day or two.

Three days later, they returned to their home ground for the 11th round of the league, facing Bologna.

There's not much Roma can do. Their schedule in October and November is like this, with little time for rest. All they can do is recover through training, get into shape, and play.

Bologna have had a terrible season, managing only 9 points after 10 rounds, placing them 18th in the league.

Bologna's attack has been terrible this season, scoring only 9 goals in 10 league matches, fewer than Shan Yongzhuo's total.

Their defense was actually quite good, conceding only 8 goals in 10 matches, which is acceptable considering their strength.

They did a good job defending against Shan Yongzhuo in this match, but Shan Yongzhuo still managed to score a goal with his powerful leg kick. De Rossi also scored a goal, and Roma easily defeated their opponents 2-0 at home, securing the victory and keeping a close eye on the strong Inter Milan.

Six days later, the Europa League group stage entered its fourth round of matches, with Roma hosting Fulham.

In their last match, Roma defeated Fulham 2-4 away from home. Spalletti hopes to continue his winning streak and maintain his advantage in the group in this game.

However, considering that just two days after the match against Fulham, Spalletti reluctantly fielded a reserve lineup.

Although Shan Yongzhuo was included in the roster, he did not start.

Unfortunately, his teammates performed poorly, and Fulham scored a goal in the first half.

In the second half, Spalletti had no choice but to bring on Shan Yongzhuo.

Fulham immediately took a serious look at the situation. Shan Yongzhuo had deliberately conserved some energy in the previous match, and in this match, he continued to be Fulham's nightmare.

In the 58th and 72nd minutes, Shan Yongzhuo unleashed a series of powerful shots, including a 30-meter long-range effort and a one-on-one goal after dribbling past four players. These two goals helped Roma secure their third consecutive victory in the group stage.

After the match, Shan Yongzhuo was once again the subject of extensive media coverage.

In the past three league rounds, Shan Yongzhuo's performance has been lackluster. He has played in two games and scored two goals, while Roma has one win, one draw and one loss.

However, he performed very strongly in the two matches against Fulham, scoring a total of 6 goals and defeating Fulham single-handedly.

His Serie A goal tally has now reached 17.

With only 11 rounds of the league played, he has already scored 17 goals, a truly astonishing performance.

Keep in mind that this is Serie A, the league with the strongest defense. With 17 goals, even if Shan Yongzhuo doesn't score again, he has a great chance to enter the top five, or even the top three, of the top scorers list at the end of the season.

Udinese striker Di Natale, who is second in the top scorers list, has also performed very well so far, scoring 8 goals in 11 rounds, but he is still far behind Shan Yongzhuo.

As for Inter Milan striker Diego Milito, who came in third, he only scored 6 goals, not even a fraction of Shan Yongzhuo's total.

This has caused great panic among the Italian media.

It's incredibly embarrassing that an Asian player has dominated the top scorers list in Serie A!
At this time, the Italian media found their ally: Mourinho.

With the match between Roma and Inter Milan approaching, Mourinho gave a media interview, discussing Roma's performance and that of Shan Yongzhuo.

Although the Italian media has always disliked this eccentric, this time his statement has gained widespread acceptance among the Italian media.

"Roma played like a small club."

"We can see that Roma scored a total of 25 goals in the league, but Shan Yongzhuo accounted for 17 of them, while the others only scored 8 goals in total. This phenomenon is very strange."

“Spalletti gave Shan Yongzhuo absolute power. He put all his eggs in one basket with Shan Yongzhuo. This is something that only happens in small clubs. Roma has completely lost their glory.”

"We must admit that Shan Yongzhuo is an excellent striker, but compared to the sacrifices the whole team has made for him, he is not as good as Di Natale and Milito."

"Shan Yongzhuo is detached from the entire tactical system. He needs absolute support from the whole team to score a goal. Even Totti is forced to drop back or draw defenders to him."

"He was even less effective defensively, and Roma often played with one less player on the field."

"Sometimes I really feel sorry for Francesco. He gave everything for Rome, and in the end he had to make such a sacrifice."

"This is not the performance expected of a mature team, and their management and head coach must take responsibility for it."

Mourinho's words were reported by the Italian media exactly as they were, and even with some embellishment, which caused a great stir.

These words sound quite reasonable at first glance, and even some Roma fans felt a bit indignant on Totti's behalf.

However, the vast majority of Roma fans and even the Roma media do not agree.

However, the Roma leadership chose to remain silent; from Rossella Sensi to Spalletti, none of them stepped forward to make a statement.

This has caused some dissatisfaction among Roma fans.

(End of this chapter)