Chapter 3 The Changing Times

Although Chang Sheng met the fans face to face and finally calmed down the anger of these fans, Lotito also took the initiative to announce that Lazio Club would erect a statue of Chang Sheng outside the new stadium.

However, the failure of Chang Sheng to renew his contract with Lazio still had a great impact on Lazio.

Soon Jose Passarella announced on his personal website that he would also retire after this season.

"I have thought about it repeatedly. After this season, I will be 40 years old and it is time to say goodbye. So I decided to retire after the season."

His announcement was as simple as that.

He didn't say why he wanted to retire. He didn't want to push his boss to the forefront again.

But a thoughtful person might be able to guess it.

Considering the relationship and affection between Jose Passarella and Chang Sheng, just after Chang Sheng announced that he would not renew his contract with the club, Jose Passarella announced his retirement. Would anyone think this is a coincidence?

Just when the training camp before the new season had just started, so many things happened, and the impact on Lazio was not small.

"...The new season hasn't even started yet, and Lazio has already experienced so many problems. It's really hard for people to be optimistic about Lazio's performance in the new season...Lazio has not won the championship for two consecutive seasons. Will they continue to do so? Three seasons with nothing?"

During the pre-season training, the media had already begun to look down on Lazio this season.

The main thing is that Chang Sheng and Lazio did not renew their contract, which really destroyed morale.

It is no exaggeration to say that Lazio is the Lazio that always wins.

Many of these players came because of his name, and they were all trained by him through hard work. They have worked together for many years and have a very deep feeling for Chang Sheng.

It can be said. Winning often is the reason, or even the only reason, that they are willing to grit their teeth and endure much more intense training than other teams and endure huge pressure at Lazio.

Just because their boss is a winner and someone they are willing to do their best to follow.

This is a winning personality.

But if the winning streak is gone, do they still need to stay at Lazio?

Or even if they all continue to stay in Lazio,

Can they continue to train and compete like this?

Even if no one leaves, will it still be Lazio that sweeps the world?

Many people feel bleak when they think about Lazio's future.

When a head coach leads a team for more than ten years, he will inevitably leave a very deep imprint on the team. It's okay to even say that this district team is his team.

When this person leaves, the team is bound to hit a trough because they have lost their soul. When will they find this soul again? I don’t even know if I can find it or not.

For a typical example, you can look at Manchester United after Ferguson retired. Moyes' Manchester United and Ferguson's Manchester United are simply two different teams.

Therefore, this season, the last season for Lazio, is destined to be neither stable nor peaceful. It's a season of panic.

Everyone will find a home for themselves this season.

You can't even blame these players, because their head coach, their boss, has taken the lead in running away...

How can such a team still have fighting ability?

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For Lazio actually. It is indeed time for an update.

At the end of last season, 35-year-old David Silva chose to retire.

There are also many old men in Lazio's current team. Jose Passarella is still Lazio's main center back at the age of 39, and Modric, who is 36, is still struggling. Although most of the time he can only be Lazio's substitute.

The 37-year-old Handanovic is still Lazio's number one, but he is no longer just the unbeatable main goalkeeper. Now he is serving as a substitute for Ter Stegen and cannot play more than a few games a season.

The 34-year-old Cavani is still at Lazio, but he is also playing as a substitute. His current role is somewhat similar to that of Rocky.

Jose Passarella chose to retire, so these veterans may also leave one after another in the next few seasons.

Their time has passed and it is time for them to make way for the newcomers.

Maybe someone will take the first step before they retire.

Someone will leave Lazio early this summer.

Leo Messi, once the all-powerful player of Barcelona, ​​lost his position in Barcelona when he was thirty years old, so Changsheng lured him to Lazio. He played for Lazio for four seasons. He was the main player in the first two seasons. In the third season, injuries began to increase and he played fewer and fewer games. Until last season, he did not play in the game for almost the entire season. Recuperate.

Before the end of last season, Chang Sheng planned to purge him. Anyway, he is thirty-four years old and should consider retirement.

At the same time, this season, Lazio introduced the 29-year-old Isco from Real Madrid in his prime, which can be regarded as completely cutting off Messi's "survival path" in Lazio.

There is no place for Messi in the Lazio team.

Lazio has been negotiating with other teams recently. Messi still has a one-year contract with Lazio. If he leaves Lazio this summer, he still needs to pay a transfer fee to Lazio.

Although Messi is already 34 years old, Lotito still wants to squeeze out the last bit of his surplus value from Messi.

You know, Lazio spent 40 million euros to dig Messi from Barcelona. Although it will definitely lose money if he sells him now, Lotito also hopes to lose less.

The transfer fee is the reason why Messi did not leave Lazio immediately.

Messi also knows that there is no place for him in Lazio, and it is time to leave.

He does not blame Changsheng's cleansing for being too ruthless.

Because he has already got what he wants in Lazio.

When he was in Barcelona, ​​he was squeezed out of the core position by Neymar, who was five years younger than him. At that time, the media and fans of Barcelona thought that they had found Messi's natural successor, so Messi naturally had no place.

They began to think about selling Messi to cash in, and finally use Messi's surplus value.

So Messi came to Lazio as a loser in the competition.

When he left Barcelona, ​​no one felt sad about his departure. The whole Barcelona was busy cheering for Neymar.

This is the tradition of Barcelona.

When a core player shows signs of aging, he will be ruthlessly abandoned.

Rivaldo and Ronaldinho are his previous examples, and now it is Messi's turn.

And it is really ironic. Ronaldinho took good care of him at the beginning, but after he became the core, Ronaldinho left. Now he is squeezed out by Neymar, who claimed to be here to help him. It is a perfect cycle...

Messi, who came to Lazio like a stray dog, won the European Champions League with the team in his first season at Lazio! And Lazio defeated Barcelona led by Neymar in the final! Messi even scored a goal!

Messi completed a perfect revenge.

He felt that his purpose of transferring to Lazio was achieved.

So he still has happy memories in Lazio.

Lazio gave him what he wanted, and he also contributed his strength.

According to the boss, it is that the two owe each other nothing. If you want to leave, you can leave, without any psychological burden.

So Messi decided to leave. He still wants to enjoy football in the last few years of his career. Lazio, a place with huge pressure, seems to be no longer suitable for him.

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Messi's departure did not cause much response in the football world.

If he was ten years younger, his transfer would definitely cause a storm in the world football world.

Now... a 34-year-old veteran who is frequently injured and almost retired due to injury is leaving... then let him leave, who cares?

Whether he is willing to continue to stay in European football, or return to Argentina to retire, or go to the Middle East, the United States, or China to make a final fortune. No one cares.

The 34-year-old Messi no longer has the magic he had when he was 24 on the court, and his market appeal has long been degraded.

Even in the same team, there is still Gotze who is more dazzling than him. Even the 20-year-old Ji Ming is a young rising star closely watched by the entire world football world.

Now is not the era of Cavani, Handanovic, Modric and Jose Passarella, and it is definitely not the era of Messi.

The media didn't pay much attention to Messi's departure, but they paid attention to Isco, who had just joined the team, every day. Even Isco's change of hairstyle could be reported on half a page.

As the offensive core of Real Madrid, Lazio pursued Isco for two seasons. After arduous and outstanding negotiations, he was finally won with a transfer fee of 60 million euros - in fact, the transfer fee is not high. 60 million sounds scary, but considering inflation, this is 2021, and this price is really not high.

Being able to dig up the absolute main force of Real Madrid at this price, I have to say that Lotito is quite capable.

Isco immediately stole Messi's limelight after he came, which is quite normal.

Even Messi has no opinion. This is the natural law of football. The old people always have to make way for the new people - when the new people who have just joined the team hold the team's jersey and kiss the team logo to please the fans, the old man who has done this before may be quietly packing his luggage, and then quietly bid farewell to his years and years at the airport alone.

When he came, he was welcomed by reporters and fans. When he left, it was good enough to have his friends in the team to see him off.

This is somewhat sad, but this is the norm in football. Messi has seen too much when he was popular. When he was the core of Barcelona, ​​he welcomed and sent off many people. Did anyone care about their psychological feelings at that time?

It seems that Messi will end his cycle in Lazio like this.

But at this time, fate suddenly went wrong...

One week after Lazio's pre-season training started, Isco, who had just joined the team, suddenly sprained his knee during training...

(To be continued) 8