The God of Football Starts With Passive Skills

There’s a saying, isn’t there?

A suck-up ends up with nothing!

"Chelsea is in the middle of changing managers, aren’t they?" Wang Shuo frowned.

Ancelotti’s sacking had caused quite a stir throughout the European Football Scene. It even triggered strong protests from managers across Europe. Now, basically no top-tier manager was willing to coach Chelsea.

Most importantly, everyone could see the chaos in Chelsea’s dressing room.

Veterans like Drogba, Lampard, and Terry were getting on in years, but they were still the core of the team’s strength.

It was very difficult for an outsider to fit in.

Torres was a case in point.

Of course, Torres’s inability to adapt was also partly for tactical reasons.

No matter how you looked at it, Chelsea wasn’t a good choice right now.

Looking at the past two or three years, with the backing of the Abu Dhabi United Group, Manchester City’s rise was only a matter of time. However, their true ascent was still a ways off.

Look, even Klopp didn’t dare go there!

Putting everything else aside, in a dressing room filled with troublemakers like Tevez and Balotelli, not to mention Dzeko and strong-willed midfielders like Yaya Toure, how could Wang Shuo guarantee his own standing?

To put it bluntly, he wouldn’t even know when they were dragging him down.

Besides, Head Coach Mancini lacked the prestige and ability to control the dressing room.

More importantly, Manchester City was still aggressively signing new players. Was the dressing room not chaotic enough already?

"If Manchester City could present a complete team-building plan and hire a truly capable top manager, then it wouldn’t be out of the question."

"But on the condition that certain people would have to be shipped out."

Wang Shuo was very clear in his mind. ’If I go, I’m going to be the top dog.’

’If I’m not the top dog, what’s the point of going?’

The situation with Manchester United was actually quite similar.

Thomas Essien revealed that Ferguson had contacted him through an intermediary to express Manchester United’s interest in Wang Shuo.

"He proposed a two-striker system. He thinks a partnership between you and Rooney would be a perfect match and could be incredibly effective."

Wang Shuo fell silent.

’A two-striker formation with Rooney?’

"Manchester United is also at a rather sensitive juncture right now." Shen Qinghe was more familiar with the Premier League.

"Their squad is generally quite old and in need of a rebuild. Plus, for the past few years, there have been rumors almost every year that Ferguson is going to retire. That’s something we have to consider carefully."

"We all know that Manchester United’s core competitive strength right now is Ferguson. Once he actually retires, where will that leave Manchester United?"

"Even if Ferguson doesn’t retire, with their current squad getting older year by year, how much of a competitive edge do they really have?"

"And besides, is Manchester United even willing to spend that kind of money?"

Shen Qinghe had her doubts about that.

With Manchester United’s financial resources, they could certainly afford it; the question was whether they were willing to.

In 2009, after Manchester United sold Ronaldo to Real Madrid, they received a massive transfer fee. And the result?

In ’09 and ’10, Manchester United didn’t make any major moves.

To be blunt, don’t let their Premier League title this season fool you. Is Manchester United’s squad really that strong?

Also, Manchester United’s most urgent needs for new signings are actually in goal and in the midfield.

Van der Sar and Scholes are both about to retire, and Giggs is already 37 years old.

On top of that, the British media recently broke the scandal about Giggs and his sister-in-law, which is causing a massive uproar.

Everything pointed to the signs of a dynasty in decline.

"If Ferguson can come up with a convincing team-building plan, I’d be interested in hearing him out."

Wang Shuo greatly admired Ferguson’s coaching abilities.

He felt the same admiration for Wenger.

But Arsenal was an even less likely option than Manchester United.

"I feel like he’s just kicking the tires," Wang Shuo joked.

And why was that?

Because Arsenal had Van Persie!

Besides, many players at Arsenal were currently agitating for a transfer.

From Fabregas to Nasri, to Clichy and Sagna, a whole group of them were clamoring to leave.

Some wanted to go to Barça, others to Manchester City.

The salaries were high there, after all.

"Even if Wenger sold the farm to scrape together 60 million euros, what about the signing bonus? What about the annual salary?"

Faced with Wang Shuo’s questions, neither Shen Qinghe nor Thomas Essien had an answer.

Arsenal really was broke!

And on top of that, they were stingy!

All of Europe knew that Wenger was as cheap as they come.

Players over 30 were only offered one-year contracts, and their salaries were the lowest among the Premier League’s Big Four.

Van Persie had been complaining since last year that after players like Flamini transferred out, they were earning two or three, or even four or five times their Arsenal salaries.

He himself was now in a contract renewal dispute with Arsenal.

Looking at it this way, it seemed Wang Shuo’s options were actually quite limited.

"Let’s just wait and see. If nothing else works out, we can stay at Dortmund for another year... or maybe transfer to Bayern?"

As he said this last part, Wang Shuo couldn’t help but laugh.

Heynckes had even called him to say he was going to be the manager at Bayern.

After seeing reports in the German media, Tony Kroos had even called Wang Shuo specifically to ask if he was really going to join Bayern.

’That’s not a bad option, either!’

Just as the three of them were talking, Thomas Essien’s phone suddenly rang.

It was a call from an agent he knew.

The news he relayed startled all three of them.

"Wenger wants to see me?"