Dug Out To The Dugout
- Thread starter Meehar
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Inter vs Fiorentina
Taking my father’s advice I’ve been trying to get my team to play more attacking football in training and this was our first match to test it and to be honest, I was encouraged by the display. We created a lot of chances and another day, we could have scored more.
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Serie A Tim Cup
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Juventus vs. Inter
“You saw heart out there today. A lot of ******* heart,” I said in my post conference. We lost but this was the most proud of the team I had been since taking over. We pushed Juventus right to the end in this game. We were as clinical as we could be and I was mighty proud of the men in blue and black stripes today.
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Palermo vs. Inter
When Ajeti gets his scoring boots, everyone else loses theirs. The young striker has scored 4 in his last 4 and on a day when Sassuolo lost, this was our chance to get a win and we threw it away. In the final moments of the game, I saw Alan Patrick get played through clean on goal and he hoofed his shot over the bar. Then Palermo got a similar break and Wellington Silva showed us how you finish those chances. I was furious.
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Inter vs. Lazio
Now this is the sort of performance I like to see and clearly my dad likes it too since he was the first to greet me when I got home. The duo of Valzania and Gnoukouri in the middle was once again exceptional along with the more experienced Medel behind them. Ajeti keeps up his goal scoring form too in this and things look better now that we’ve temporarily climbed to 4th.
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Sampdoria vs. Inter
This was 2 points lost. We were the better side and all ends but somehow managed to let them back in. My attack has improved but now my defense is letting me down. I need to strike a balance soon.
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Inter vs. Juventus
Another show of the attacking prowess this team is capable of. Juventus came in with every chance to put themselves in a strong position to sneak away the title from Napoli. I’ve met Allegri’s team twice before and I’ve built somewhat of a good relationship with the Italian who has always been complimentary of me to the media but I wasn’t about to do him any favours. I got my win and got a slim chance of getting in the Champion’s League.
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A.C Milan vs. Inter
A battle within the city I am beginning to like every day. One of my personal goals when I set when I took the job was to make Inter the dominant Milan team again and I was presented with the first chance to do so. I was up against the legendary manager Carlo Ancelotti who I have read extensively about before moving here. I wasn’t going to be overawed though and neither were my players and we grinded out a win. Ajeti came on and changed the game completely and even with Pereira picking up a late sending off, we held on strong to put ourselves two points off the final Champions League place. Handanovic who is being heavily courted by Everton, to the point of their manager Karanka coming to see us play on more than two occasions, put in a match winning display as well.
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Inter vs Fiorentina
Taking my father’s advice I’ve been trying to get my team to play more attacking football in training and this was our first match to test it and to be honest, I was encouraged by the display. We created a lot of chances and another day, we could have scored more.
View attachment 177312
Serie A Tim Cup
View attachment 177314
Juventus vs. Inter
“You saw heart out there today. A lot of ******* heart,” I said in my post conference. We lost but this was the most proud of the team I had been since taking over. We pushed Juventus right to the end in this game. We were as clinical as we could be and I was mighty proud of the men in blue and black stripes today.
View attachment 177311
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Palermo vs. Inter
When Ajeti gets his scoring boots, everyone else loses theirs. The young striker has scored 4 in his last 4 and on a day when Sassuolo lost, this was our chance to get a win and we threw it away. In the final moments of the game, I saw Alan Patrick get played through clean on goal and he hoofed his shot over the bar. Then Palermo got a similar break and Wellington Silva showed us how you finish those chances. I was furious.
View attachment 177310
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Inter vs. Lazio
Now this is the sort of performance I like to see and clearly my dad likes it too since he was the first to greet me when I got home. The duo of Valzania and Gnoukouri in the middle was once again exceptional along with the more experienced Medel behind them. Ajeti keeps up his goal scoring form too in this and things look better now that we’ve temporarily climbed to 4th.
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Sampdoria vs. Inter
This was 2 points lost. We were the better side and all ends but somehow managed to let them back in. My attack has improved but now my defense is letting me down. I need to strike a balance soon.
View attachment 177307
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Inter vs. Juventus
Another show of the attacking prowess this team is capable of. Juventus came in with every chance to put themselves in a strong position to sneak away the title from Napoli. I’ve met Allegri’s team twice before and I’ve built somewhat of a good relationship with the Italian who has always been complimentary of me to the media but I wasn’t about to do him any favours. I got my win and got a slim chance of getting in the Champion’s League.
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A.C Milan vs. Inter
A battle within the city I am beginning to like every day. One of my personal goals when I set when I took the job was to make Inter the dominant Milan team again and I was presented with the first chance to do so. I was up against the legendary manager Carlo Ancelotti who I have read extensively about before moving here. I wasn’t going to be overawed though and neither were my players and we grinded out a win. Ajeti came on and changed the game completely and even with Pereira picking up a late sending off, we held on strong to put ourselves two points off the final Champions League place. Handanovic who is being heavily courted by Everton, to the point of their manager Karanka coming to see us play on more than two occasions, put in a match winning display as well.
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What a month it was with a total of 7 matches played. I got the team to start playing a more attacking brand of football and they’ve responded great with a total of 17 goals across the month. This is a marked improvement considering they took two months to score just 11 goals previously.
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Inter vs. Pescara
I can’t yell at them. I want to, but I can’t. It was a makeshift squad, especially in defense when three of my usual back four(Nagatomo, Pereira and Juan Jesus) missed the game through suspension. Those 3 were joined by Medel(suspension) and Piatti(injury). It was a frustrating day and Pescara hit us hard twice on the break. After that we just couldn’t get our heads right to recover. When we finally composed ourselves and rallied, it was too late.
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Udinese vs. Inter
This was end to end with Udinese looking more dangerous than us admittedly. So much so, that for large parts of the game I was focusing on getting us to not concede instead of trying to score. In the end, we settled for a draw and this leaves me with the last game of the season. Our Champions League dream is over because of Milan’s superior goal difference determining which of us could clinch third.
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Inter vs. Verona
Great display to end the season. The movement was good and we looked fairy sharp in defense as well, despite not keeping the clean sheet. Ajeti finished his revival with a great brace on the day. The result confirmed it though - Inter Milan is back in European football.
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May
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Inter vs. Pescara
I can’t yell at them. I want to, but I can’t. It was a makeshift squad, especially in defense when three of my usual back four(Nagatomo, Pereira and Juan Jesus) missed the game through suspension. Those 3 were joined by Medel(suspension) and Piatti(injury). It was a frustrating day and Pescara hit us hard twice on the break. After that we just couldn’t get our heads right to recover. When we finally composed ourselves and rallied, it was too late.
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Udinese vs. Inter
This was end to end with Udinese looking more dangerous than us admittedly. So much so, that for large parts of the game I was focusing on getting us to not concede instead of trying to score. In the end, we settled for a draw and this leaves me with the last game of the season. Our Champions League dream is over because of Milan’s superior goal difference determining which of us could clinch third.
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Inter vs. Verona
Great display to end the season. The movement was good and we looked fairy sharp in defense as well, despite not keeping the clean sheet. Ajeti finished his revival with a great brace on the day. The result confirmed it though - Inter Milan is back in European football.
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“Congratulations Massimilliano. Not only on the title win but on Manager of the Year awards. It was clear that you would guide them to the title in my eyes and while Napoli tried to hold you off, you prevailed. Enjoy the success and be prepared for my men to give you a real challenge next season,” I said over the phone on a call with Juventus’ manager Allegri. His side had clinched the title with two games to go but I decided to wait until the season had truly ended before I congratulated him. He had also remarkably won the Europa League and Serie A Tim cup as well. “Alright, I’ll see you. You definitely have my vote in the Serie A Manager of the Year poll as well. Goodbye friend.”
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I got up from my desk and poured myself a glass of wine. I did it. I had met the target Thorir asked me to meet when I took the job over. It didn’t look impossible but we made it look easy in the end, even coming close to qualifying for the Champions League. In about 6 short months, I was able to guide the team from 9th place to 5th. I truly felt proud of myself.
I had attended the awards dinner and for the first time in my managerial career I took Vera out with me in front of the media. In my speech, I thanked everyone involved with Inter for making me and my family feel so welcomed in such a short time and promised them that the trophies would soon come for us. I also promised that our players would soon compete for the seasonal personal awards after seeing all my players snubbed for all the major awards the Serie A gave out at the end of the season. I congratulated our winners on the night with Pereira deservingly picking up the Inter Player of the Year award while Valzania was also a winner on the night. The young player deserved the recognition as he played well since coming into the squad. My final line from the speech was the final promise I would make on the night, “Next season, we WILL return to the Champions League.”
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Back at my desk, wine in hand, I looked over my emails on my computer and found that Thorir had sent me an email regarding initial transfer budgets. It wasn’t a bad budget considering everything.
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A few players would leave in the off-season, including Miranda, who had agreed to join Monaco after we negotiated a deal. Guarin has also already agreed to join Cardiff. Damaio, Alan Patrick, Biabiany and Mikel were the next players I transfer-listed and hoped to see some movement for them in the coming days. Another thing I have been doing is speaking heavily with my scouting team and there are a few youngsters currently out on loan who could come back to be involved in our first team. Not to mention, Jovetic will be a welcome addition to the team. I was completely committed to building the best squad I could for the next season.
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As I scoured through more paperwork, I saw the letter I wanted my assistant to fax to Juan Iturbe’s agent telling him that we wouldn’t be making his loan stay permanent. The 24-year old had some nice games for us but initial talks over a stay saw him request too high a sum for wages and though we could pay him that amount of money, I don’t think his performances warranted it. I also found that Pjaca was the overall fan favorite when it came to shirt sales.
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The most alarming news was the club falling 20 places in club rankings to 51st place and it was the first thing I wanted to get to fixing come the new season.
As I searched some more, I found two notable things: another article from that magazine and a letter addressed to me. It read:
Paulo,
Meet me where we first met.
Rafael.
End of Season Overview
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I got up from my desk and poured myself a glass of wine. I did it. I had met the target Thorir asked me to meet when I took the job over. It didn’t look impossible but we made it look easy in the end, even coming close to qualifying for the Champions League. In about 6 short months, I was able to guide the team from 9th place to 5th. I truly felt proud of myself.
I had attended the awards dinner and for the first time in my managerial career I took Vera out with me in front of the media. In my speech, I thanked everyone involved with Inter for making me and my family feel so welcomed in such a short time and promised them that the trophies would soon come for us. I also promised that our players would soon compete for the seasonal personal awards after seeing all my players snubbed for all the major awards the Serie A gave out at the end of the season. I congratulated our winners on the night with Pereira deservingly picking up the Inter Player of the Year award while Valzania was also a winner on the night. The young player deserved the recognition as he played well since coming into the squad. My final line from the speech was the final promise I would make on the night, “Next season, we WILL return to the Champions League.”
View attachment 175189
Back at my desk, wine in hand, I looked over my emails on my computer and found that Thorir had sent me an email regarding initial transfer budgets. It wasn’t a bad budget considering everything.
View attachment 175186
A few players would leave in the off-season, including Miranda, who had agreed to join Monaco after we negotiated a deal. Guarin has also already agreed to join Cardiff. Damaio, Alan Patrick, Biabiany and Mikel were the next players I transfer-listed and hoped to see some movement for them in the coming days. Another thing I have been doing is speaking heavily with my scouting team and there are a few youngsters currently out on loan who could come back to be involved in our first team. Not to mention, Jovetic will be a welcome addition to the team. I was completely committed to building the best squad I could for the next season.
View attachment 175185
As I scoured through more paperwork, I saw the letter I wanted my assistant to fax to Juan Iturbe’s agent telling him that we wouldn’t be making his loan stay permanent. The 24-year old had some nice games for us but initial talks over a stay saw him request too high a sum for wages and though we could pay him that amount of money, I don’t think his performances warranted it. I also found that Pjaca was the overall fan favorite when it came to shirt sales.
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The most alarming news was the club falling 20 places in club rankings to 51st place and it was the first thing I wanted to get to fixing come the new season.
As I searched some more, I found two notable things: another article from that magazine and a letter addressed to me. It read:
Paulo,
Meet me where we first met.
Rafael.
JamesScott2908
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You and your cliff hangers!
PatrickLFC
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Just keeps getting better!
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June 3, 2017,
Milan,
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“I’m telling you Andrei. Klopp is the master!” Frank shouted from outside near the pool. “Look at the success he brought to Arsenal in just his first season. The fans are worshipping him.”
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“I can tell. Just look at you gushing,” Andrei responded. “I still think he should have stayed at Liverpool.”
“Why? He wouldn’t have won anything with them if he did. He made the right decision!” Frank argued. “Which team do you support anyway?”
“To be honest, I didn’t start focusing on football as much until Alexei started managing but since then I’ve found that I like Spurs and whatever team Alexei manages.”
“Oh. That’s why you can’t stand Arsenal’s success. I get it now,” Frank teased with a grin.
I had just got home from a meeting with my assistant manager Cangelosi about the plans for summer. The team would play 6 pre-season games that included a 3 game tour of the Middle East. Cangelosi would take charge of all the games in the Middle East because I had A Sombra matters to deal with. Of course, I told him and everyone else that I simply preferred seeing the team perform without me in the dugout alluding to my absence from Spartak’s preseason at the beginning of my managerial career.
“It’s good to know who you two support in England. I’ll be sure to take charge of another club from the Premier League to decimate both Arsenal and Tottenham,” I said joining in on their conversation.
They both chuckled and offered me a drink, which I accepted. “Let’s see you get Inter in the Champion’s league and maybe then you can try to take on Arsenal,” Frank playfully fired back.
“Alright, you’re on. If I don’t meet them in the Champion’s League though, I’m going to takeover a club one of you hate and win everything.”
“You’re not leaving Inter so I’m not afraid,” Andrei said smiling before taking a swig of his drink.
“He’s right about that one. So how was the meeting? They found it weird that you weren’t planning to be apart of the tour?”
“No, everyone was fine with my reasoning.”
“Good. So, did Rafael agree to meet you in Qatar?”
“Yes. He’ll come alone as agreed and I’ll honour that agreement by going alone as well,” I said shooting a glance at Andrei who is known to follow me.
“If you cannot see me, you are alone Alexei,” he smiled.
“What about that journalist for the article? Did you two read the last one?”
“Yeah, we were talking about it just now,” Frank responded. “I don’t know how he is digging up this information yet so far but Andrei said he’ll try to get an eye on him. He’s proved difficult to locate.”
“Hmm. Very well. Enough about business now then? Who do you guys think I should target in the summer window?”
June 3, 2017,
Milan,
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“I’m telling you Andrei. Klopp is the master!” Frank shouted from outside near the pool. “Look at the success he brought to Arsenal in just his first season. The fans are worshipping him.”
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“I can tell. Just look at you gushing,” Andrei responded. “I still think he should have stayed at Liverpool.”
“Why? He wouldn’t have won anything with them if he did. He made the right decision!” Frank argued. “Which team do you support anyway?”
“To be honest, I didn’t start focusing on football as much until Alexei started managing but since then I’ve found that I like Spurs and whatever team Alexei manages.”
“Oh. That’s why you can’t stand Arsenal’s success. I get it now,” Frank teased with a grin.
I had just got home from a meeting with my assistant manager Cangelosi about the plans for summer. The team would play 6 pre-season games that included a 3 game tour of the Middle East. Cangelosi would take charge of all the games in the Middle East because I had A Sombra matters to deal with. Of course, I told him and everyone else that I simply preferred seeing the team perform without me in the dugout alluding to my absence from Spartak’s preseason at the beginning of my managerial career.
“It’s good to know who you two support in England. I’ll be sure to take charge of another club from the Premier League to decimate both Arsenal and Tottenham,” I said joining in on their conversation.
They both chuckled and offered me a drink, which I accepted. “Let’s see you get Inter in the Champion’s league and maybe then you can try to take on Arsenal,” Frank playfully fired back.
“Alright, you’re on. If I don’t meet them in the Champion’s League though, I’m going to takeover a club one of you hate and win everything.”
“You’re not leaving Inter so I’m not afraid,” Andrei said smiling before taking a swig of his drink.
“He’s right about that one. So how was the meeting? They found it weird that you weren’t planning to be apart of the tour?”
“No, everyone was fine with my reasoning.”
“Good. So, did Rafael agree to meet you in Qatar?”
“Yes. He’ll come alone as agreed and I’ll honour that agreement by going alone as well,” I said shooting a glance at Andrei who is known to follow me.
“If you cannot see me, you are alone Alexei,” he smiled.
“What about that journalist for the article? Did you two read the last one?”
“Yeah, we were talking about it just now,” Frank responded. “I don’t know how he is digging up this information yet so far but Andrei said he’ll try to get an eye on him. He’s proved difficult to locate.”
“Hmm. Very well. Enough about business now then? Who do you guys think I should target in the summer window?”
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August 15, 2017,
Milan,
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I sat on the edge of the pool with my feet in the water while I looked to the moon above my head. The night was quiet and it allowed me to gather my thoughts peacefully. The house behind me was empty because everyone agreed to go out for dinner tonight at my request. They knew the summer had been arduous so far and thought my idea for alone time was a good one. Why has the summer been so hard?
My double life that had so far kept an opposite yet parallel path started to become intertwined with its timing of stresses. In the Inter Milan offices, the summer meant that the transfer window was open and for the first time in my career I faced what a summer transfer window was like. The negotiations with other clubs proved frustrating and the pursuit of my own players from other clubs proved distracting. Pereira and Juan Jesus both expressed a desire to leave and while I was able to convince Alvaro to change his mind over time, Juan tried to challenge me.
“I want to leave and you won’t keep me here. That’s all I have to say about the matter to you, I’ll let the other players know and they will no doubt take my side,” he argued.
With matters off the field already being pressing, I could feel myself reaching for the gun under my table but I kept my cool and managed to smile at him. “Very well Juan, do as you wish. My word is final and you will regret going against it. I can guarantee that.”
What followed was media coverage of the row between a manager and his player and a potential mutiny. As if I had not already dealt with enough of that. There was to be no mutiny though luckily as a majority of the players took my side including transfer victim and star player Pjanic who I had just convinced to sign a new contract with us. The only player who took Juan’s side was Pereira who was in similar circumstances this summer but he didn’t become vocal about his support – a smart decision.
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Eventually the window passed though and I stood tall among all when I kept the players I wanted to keep and sold the players I wanted to leave. Juan eventually gave up and apologized for his handling of the situation. An apology I accepted to a degree as I had already made the decision that he would fall down the pecking order for his behavior.
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The window wasn’t the only distressing thing in my life of football though as friendlies caused me to lose a few key players to injury, the biggest one being Pjaca who would be out for all of 3 months. Mikel and Nagatomo joined him on the injury table with both players expecting to be out for a month. Still, I tried to keep my head up with the new season about to start.
Keep my head up. The thought circled my mind constantly as I decided to step into the pool completely and dive to the bottom. The moonlight shined through the water and I closed my eyes as I held my breath, reflecting on the matters that happened off the field.
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I reached back out to Rafael after his letter to me at the end of last season. He wanted me to meet him back on the port where we almost killed each other. I found it unusual that he reached out to me and not Vitor so I agreed to the meeting considering over the last few months no real progress had been made with the search for Vitor. This could have been an opportunity for me to get useful information. My only request of him was to change the meeting place to Qatar where I had a few friendlies lined up. I wanted to keep close to my team and thought this was the best way to make my family believe I was safe. It was hard to imagine him trying to kill me in broad daylight in Qatar.
So we met and from that meeting I got more than I bargained for. He looked distressed and on edge from the moment I sat down at the table in the restaurant we were at. Nothing was said for the first couple minutes until he reached into his coat and slid a box across the table. He stared at me and gestured that I open it and when I did, I was more than surprised about what was inside – a finger.
“It’s..umm..it’s my brothers,” he finally spoke. Then he slid another box across the table. “In this one, it’s Vitor’s.”
I opened it and examined it to find what he was saying was true. It was a stubby severed pinky that no doubt once belonged to Vitor. I didn’t know how to make sense of it. I took a sip of the water on the table and looked up at him examining my reactions.
“I was right. You didn’t do this. I thought you did. W-w-when I first discovered they were missing but then I started to watch you in Milan. How you conducted yourself in your games, and the conferences and I don’t care what they say about you Alexei. No man could torture his uncle and remain as relaxed and focused as you have. So I knew it couldn’t be you,” Rafael explained.
“You don’t know who did this?” I asked.
“No. Not yet. I’ve been laying low ever since I got Carlos’ finger but then I got Vitor’s finger and realized I wasn’t hiding nearly enough.”
“No demands have been made? You were just randomly sent two fingers?”
“That’s right. I don’t know why or who did it. My only explanation could be you at the time but once I ruled you out, I had no other lead. Which is why I contacted you, I was hoping you knew something.”
“We’ve been searching for you three for a while now Rafael. I’m completely in the dark about this. The last time I had contact with Vitor was when he sent me a letter when I got the Inter job. He was taunting me over some journalist writing about me. Saying I-“
“That can’t be,” Rafael interrupted.
“What?” I asked.
“It was around the time you got the Inter job that I lost contact with him and my brother. I don’t think he wrote you that letter Alexei. Are you certain it was him?”
“Yes. I can’t mistake his handwriting. It’s hard to believe someone else wrote it.”
“I-I don’t know Alexei. None of this makes sense. I’ve been trying to make sense of it but nothing so far and now I see that you’re as much in the dark about this as I am.”
I tried to process it all. Vitor was chasing me and my family, but who was chasing Vitor and tormenting Rafael? And if Vitor didn’t write the letter to me, who did? Why did they?
I swam to the surface of the pool and gasped for air. I was left with more questions than answers off the field this summer and I needed to somehow put all that to the side to focus on my job again. I left Qatar with the promise to Rafael that we would figure out who had Vitor and his brother. I came back to Milan and made sure to fill everyone in on the latest developments. The news rocked father and Uncle Bruno the hardest and confirmed father’s initial fears that something had happened to his brother. The decision was everyone’s focus would switch to finding out what happened to Vitor and Carlos while I focused on Inter Milan.
Focusing. That would be difficult.
August 15, 2017,
Milan,
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I sat on the edge of the pool with my feet in the water while I looked to the moon above my head. The night was quiet and it allowed me to gather my thoughts peacefully. The house behind me was empty because everyone agreed to go out for dinner tonight at my request. They knew the summer had been arduous so far and thought my idea for alone time was a good one. Why has the summer been so hard?
My double life that had so far kept an opposite yet parallel path started to become intertwined with its timing of stresses. In the Inter Milan offices, the summer meant that the transfer window was open and for the first time in my career I faced what a summer transfer window was like. The negotiations with other clubs proved frustrating and the pursuit of my own players from other clubs proved distracting. Pereira and Juan Jesus both expressed a desire to leave and while I was able to convince Alvaro to change his mind over time, Juan tried to challenge me.
“I want to leave and you won’t keep me here. That’s all I have to say about the matter to you, I’ll let the other players know and they will no doubt take my side,” he argued.
With matters off the field already being pressing, I could feel myself reaching for the gun under my table but I kept my cool and managed to smile at him. “Very well Juan, do as you wish. My word is final and you will regret going against it. I can guarantee that.”
What followed was media coverage of the row between a manager and his player and a potential mutiny. As if I had not already dealt with enough of that. There was to be no mutiny though luckily as a majority of the players took my side including transfer victim and star player Pjanic who I had just convinced to sign a new contract with us. The only player who took Juan’s side was Pereira who was in similar circumstances this summer but he didn’t become vocal about his support – a smart decision.
View attachment 173184
Eventually the window passed though and I stood tall among all when I kept the players I wanted to keep and sold the players I wanted to leave. Juan eventually gave up and apologized for his handling of the situation. An apology I accepted to a degree as I had already made the decision that he would fall down the pecking order for his behavior.
View attachment 173174
The window wasn’t the only distressing thing in my life of football though as friendlies caused me to lose a few key players to injury, the biggest one being Pjaca who would be out for all of 3 months. Mikel and Nagatomo joined him on the injury table with both players expecting to be out for a month. Still, I tried to keep my head up with the new season about to start.
Keep my head up. The thought circled my mind constantly as I decided to step into the pool completely and dive to the bottom. The moonlight shined through the water and I closed my eyes as I held my breath, reflecting on the matters that happened off the field.
View attachment 173164
I reached back out to Rafael after his letter to me at the end of last season. He wanted me to meet him back on the port where we almost killed each other. I found it unusual that he reached out to me and not Vitor so I agreed to the meeting considering over the last few months no real progress had been made with the search for Vitor. This could have been an opportunity for me to get useful information. My only request of him was to change the meeting place to Qatar where I had a few friendlies lined up. I wanted to keep close to my team and thought this was the best way to make my family believe I was safe. It was hard to imagine him trying to kill me in broad daylight in Qatar.
So we met and from that meeting I got more than I bargained for. He looked distressed and on edge from the moment I sat down at the table in the restaurant we were at. Nothing was said for the first couple minutes until he reached into his coat and slid a box across the table. He stared at me and gestured that I open it and when I did, I was more than surprised about what was inside – a finger.
“It’s..umm..it’s my brothers,” he finally spoke. Then he slid another box across the table. “In this one, it’s Vitor’s.”
I opened it and examined it to find what he was saying was true. It was a stubby severed pinky that no doubt once belonged to Vitor. I didn’t know how to make sense of it. I took a sip of the water on the table and looked up at him examining my reactions.
“I was right. You didn’t do this. I thought you did. W-w-when I first discovered they were missing but then I started to watch you in Milan. How you conducted yourself in your games, and the conferences and I don’t care what they say about you Alexei. No man could torture his uncle and remain as relaxed and focused as you have. So I knew it couldn’t be you,” Rafael explained.
“You don’t know who did this?” I asked.
“No. Not yet. I’ve been laying low ever since I got Carlos’ finger but then I got Vitor’s finger and realized I wasn’t hiding nearly enough.”
“No demands have been made? You were just randomly sent two fingers?”
“That’s right. I don’t know why or who did it. My only explanation could be you at the time but once I ruled you out, I had no other lead. Which is why I contacted you, I was hoping you knew something.”
“We’ve been searching for you three for a while now Rafael. I’m completely in the dark about this. The last time I had contact with Vitor was when he sent me a letter when I got the Inter job. He was taunting me over some journalist writing about me. Saying I-“
“That can’t be,” Rafael interrupted.
“What?” I asked.
“It was around the time you got the Inter job that I lost contact with him and my brother. I don’t think he wrote you that letter Alexei. Are you certain it was him?”
“Yes. I can’t mistake his handwriting. It’s hard to believe someone else wrote it.”
“I-I don’t know Alexei. None of this makes sense. I’ve been trying to make sense of it but nothing so far and now I see that you’re as much in the dark about this as I am.”
I tried to process it all. Vitor was chasing me and my family, but who was chasing Vitor and tormenting Rafael? And if Vitor didn’t write the letter to me, who did? Why did they?
I swam to the surface of the pool and gasped for air. I was left with more questions than answers off the field this summer and I needed to somehow put all that to the side to focus on my job again. I left Qatar with the promise to Rafael that we would figure out who had Vitor and his brother. I came back to Milan and made sure to fill everyone in on the latest developments. The news rocked father and Uncle Bruno the hardest and confirmed father’s initial fears that something had happened to his brother. The decision was everyone’s focus would switch to finding out what happened to Vitor and Carlos while I focused on Inter Milan.
Focusing. That would be difficult.
PatrickLFC
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This story is so frustrating! It's like a book, except that when I'm reading a book I can keep going. I'm forced to wait here and it's so frustrating! Hurry up and post more updates!!
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So with all the antics aside that took place in the summer, we did well in our transfer business I believe. Several players joined while even more left whether permanently or on loan.
A few other names like Crisiteg and Taider were transfers that were arranged before my time so I had no say on the matter. The hardest player to let go was perhaps Albian Ajeti as the young Swiss striker came into his own towards the end of last season with some important goals but I felt we had better, more reliable options in the squad now. Miranda, Biabiany, Patrick and Guarin all wanted and probably deserved more playing time but I wasn’t going to give it to them so I allowed them all to leave while Damiao just didn’t fit into my plans.
So with all the antics aside that took place in the summer, we did well in our transfer business I believe. Several players joined while even more left whether permanently or on loan.
They notable names that left were:
| Damaio | Ajeti | Patrick | Guarin | Miranda | Biabiany |
| 8M | 7M | 3.5M | 2.5M | 4.5M | 1.9M |
As for the new arrivals, we brought in:
I was more than pleased with our signings, bringing in a total of 3 Italians as well to fill up our homegrown quota. The players too were of quality.
Stevan Jovetic
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I came to Inter Milan and met Jovetic but never got the chance to manage him because of an administrative oversight that saw his loan deal end. I heard all good things about the attacker though and immediately decided to snap him up for free. Now he's here and I can't wait to see what he can do.
James Ward-Prowse
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James was all over media stories in England about his unhappiness at Southampton. Stories that made it's way to my scouts in Italy and then to me and once I saw a report and a few videos on him, I knew I wanted to sign him. The versatile young Englishman could prove a superb piece of business.
Patric
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Our depth at right back was always a concern for me and when I loaned out youngster Donkor who would cover there sometimes, I knew I needed to bring someone in. Patric was the perfect guy for the job. He was already playing in Serie A and once he knew we were interested, he wanted to come. Nagatomo definitely has competition this season.
Gaston Gil Romero
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I always think it's best to have a combative type player and while Medel checks all boxes for that, the Chilean can sometimes lose his mind on the field. Mikel wasn't that sort of player to get stuck in either so I felt I needed someone and Gil Romero was perfect. I worked with the Argentine back at the Olympics and asked him if he would like to join me here and once I got a yes, I made it happen.
Nicola Sansone
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Sansone was part of a Napoli team that challenged for the title last season and with Pjaca's injury, I really needed another player to add to our attacking depth. He was transfer-listed and I decided he looked quality enough to come to Milan.
Matteo Bianchetti
View attachment 173121
Juan Jesus crossed me this summer and Miranda left so I needed another central defender to call on. There were plenty of players we could have gone for but Matteo was the one I wanted. He was an Inter youth player that left to develop and I think he developed well so I personally negotiated with Verona to bring him back home. With a few add ons and 1.3 million upfront, I got my man.
Fabio Borini
View attachment 173115
Mr. Deadline Day and my marquee signing you could say. Not satisfied with my squad on transfer deadline day, I was looking through old scout reports and stumbled on Borini. A proven finisher, versatile attacker and Italian, he was everything this team could use right now. So I sent out delegates to Russia early on deadline day to workout a deal with Dinamo Moscow worth around 15 million total to bring him back to Italy. He was my final signing of the window and completed the look for this new Inter team.
Another player would play a role this season who wasn't with us last season was a youth player who looked ready to compete in our first team. He was the 19-year old left back Federico Dimarco and was often described as something of a wonderkid. We needed another option for left back with Pereira aging and also showing signs of wanting to leave in the summer so promoting Dimarco to the first team was an easy decision.
Federico Dimarco
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Summary
Transfers Out:
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Transfers In:
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| Jovetic | Ward-Prowse | Patric | Gil Romero | Sansone | Bianchetti | Borini |
| Free | 15M | 3.1M | 3.8M | 4.1M | 1.3M | 11.5M |
I was more than pleased with our signings, bringing in a total of 3 Italians as well to fill up our homegrown quota. The players too were of quality.
Stevan Jovetic
View attachment 173146
I came to Inter Milan and met Jovetic but never got the chance to manage him because of an administrative oversight that saw his loan deal end. I heard all good things about the attacker though and immediately decided to snap him up for free. Now he's here and I can't wait to see what he can do.
James Ward-Prowse
View attachment 173145
James was all over media stories in England about his unhappiness at Southampton. Stories that made it's way to my scouts in Italy and then to me and once I saw a report and a few videos on him, I knew I wanted to sign him. The versatile young Englishman could prove a superb piece of business.
Patric
View attachment 173144
Our depth at right back was always a concern for me and when I loaned out youngster Donkor who would cover there sometimes, I knew I needed to bring someone in. Patric was the perfect guy for the job. He was already playing in Serie A and once he knew we were interested, he wanted to come. Nagatomo definitely has competition this season.
Gaston Gil Romero
View attachment 173143
I always think it's best to have a combative type player and while Medel checks all boxes for that, the Chilean can sometimes lose his mind on the field. Mikel wasn't that sort of player to get stuck in either so I felt I needed someone and Gil Romero was perfect. I worked with the Argentine back at the Olympics and asked him if he would like to join me here and once I got a yes, I made it happen.
Nicola Sansone
View attachment 173139
Sansone was part of a Napoli team that challenged for the title last season and with Pjaca's injury, I really needed another player to add to our attacking depth. He was transfer-listed and I decided he looked quality enough to come to Milan.
Matteo Bianchetti
View attachment 173121
Juan Jesus crossed me this summer and Miranda left so I needed another central defender to call on. There were plenty of players we could have gone for but Matteo was the one I wanted. He was an Inter youth player that left to develop and I think he developed well so I personally negotiated with Verona to bring him back home. With a few add ons and 1.3 million upfront, I got my man.
Fabio Borini
View attachment 173115
Mr. Deadline Day and my marquee signing you could say. Not satisfied with my squad on transfer deadline day, I was looking through old scout reports and stumbled on Borini. A proven finisher, versatile attacker and Italian, he was everything this team could use right now. So I sent out delegates to Russia early on deadline day to workout a deal with Dinamo Moscow worth around 15 million total to bring him back to Italy. He was my final signing of the window and completed the look for this new Inter team.
Another player would play a role this season who wasn't with us last season was a youth player who looked ready to compete in our first team. He was the 19-year old left back Federico Dimarco and was often described as something of a wonderkid. We needed another option for left back with Pereira aging and also showing signs of wanting to leave in the summer so promoting Dimarco to the first team was an easy decision.
Federico Dimarco
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Summary
Transfers Out:
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Transfers In:
View attachment 173091
**Worth noting that screenshots were taken well after the transfers because I forgot to when I went through the summer. So some stats have gone down because of injuries and such.
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Hahaha. Trust me, it's just as frustrating for me these days because I've started talking myself with story dialogue when I can't find time to write it XD
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August
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Cagliari vs. Inter
So we kicked off the season with a draw. There wasn’t a whole lot to complain about in this game because my players had solid games individually but we lacked something collectively to get a go ahead goal. Hopefully we can find it in the next game.
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Inter vs. Napoli
Our first home game of the season left us with a solid win. We looked dangerous every time we got forward with Pablo Piatti playing creator picking apart the Napoli defense. Youngsters Dimarco and Valzania got the goals for us and I was proud.
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So with just two matches in August, we started off the season okay. With a draw against Cagliari and a win against stronger opponents in the form of Napoli, I couldn’t complain about too much. There’s a long road ahead though. Our Europa League group has been drawn as well and I eagerly await to compete for the first time in European competition.
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August
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Cagliari vs. Inter
So we kicked off the season with a draw. There wasn’t a whole lot to complain about in this game because my players had solid games individually but we lacked something collectively to get a go ahead goal. Hopefully we can find it in the next game.
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Inter vs. Napoli
Our first home game of the season left us with a solid win. We looked dangerous every time we got forward with Pablo Piatti playing creator picking apart the Napoli defense. Youngsters Dimarco and Valzania got the goals for us and I was proud.
View attachment 172471
So with just two matches in August, we started off the season okay. With a draw against Cagliari and a win against stronger opponents in the form of Napoli, I couldn’t complain about too much. There’s a long road ahead though. Our Europa League group has been drawn as well and I eagerly await to compete for the first time in European competition.
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September
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Fiorentina vs. Inter
This was an end to end game. Something I wasn’t entirely pleased about as we allowed them to attack us too much. This was largely caused by Juan Jesus who further made up by mind that I simply cannot trust him anymore after he picked up a straight red card. We won the game thanks to an own goal and Jovetic scoring against his former club. His goal laid on by Lovren who is making a claim to be my leader at the back.
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Feyenoord vs. Inter
So this ended in a draw and I really couldn’t complain about much. I sent out a rotated team that I still deemed strong enough to pull off a road win. They didn’t but it was something to build on in our European adventure. Meanwhile, James Ward-Prowse got his first Inter goal while Borini played well out left getting an assist.
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Inter vs. Lazio
On paper, we looked the better side but it didn’t really show on the field despite the stats. Lazio scored two great goals including a wonder strike from Djordjevic. We made changes and tried to rally and even got a goal from an even better strike from Jovetic. He’s really starting to find his form and could prove vital for us.
Meanwhile Piatti picks up an injury that will see him out for 5 weeks.
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Genoa vs. Inter
Poor display from my men today. We badly missed the creative influences of someone like Pjaca or Piatti and really didn’t create any chances. Two moments of madness led to our downfall and that was all she wrote for this. We need to pick up form.
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Inter vs. Torino
After outshooting us 10 to 1 in the first half, I bit into the team at halftime. “You’re disgracing yourselves out there! You look toothless and scared. You look like little boys still waiting for your balls to drop!” I yelled. In the second half, I saw a fired up team that tried to get something out of the game. We just lacked the power to get a goal however. I have belief that we’ll start scoring our chances soon. We are just unlucky now with suspensions and injuries and this showed in the fact that I could only name 5 players for my bench.
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Zenit vs. Inter
Zenit came in to this game with clear intentions to hit us on the break but my team did great in putting them to the sword. In the build up to this game, I worked on various attacking drills and new roles with some players and it paid dividends. James Ward-Prowse proved inspirational in the no. 10 role as he laid on two goals.
Gnoukouri was a sad casualty of the game and he’ll now miss 2-3 weeks.
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September
View attachment 172165
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Fiorentina vs. Inter
This was an end to end game. Something I wasn’t entirely pleased about as we allowed them to attack us too much. This was largely caused by Juan Jesus who further made up by mind that I simply cannot trust him anymore after he picked up a straight red card. We won the game thanks to an own goal and Jovetic scoring against his former club. His goal laid on by Lovren who is making a claim to be my leader at the back.
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Feyenoord vs. Inter
So this ended in a draw and I really couldn’t complain about much. I sent out a rotated team that I still deemed strong enough to pull off a road win. They didn’t but it was something to build on in our European adventure. Meanwhile, James Ward-Prowse got his first Inter goal while Borini played well out left getting an assist.
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Inter vs. Lazio
On paper, we looked the better side but it didn’t really show on the field despite the stats. Lazio scored two great goals including a wonder strike from Djordjevic. We made changes and tried to rally and even got a goal from an even better strike from Jovetic. He’s really starting to find his form and could prove vital for us.
Meanwhile Piatti picks up an injury that will see him out for 5 weeks.
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Genoa vs. Inter
Poor display from my men today. We badly missed the creative influences of someone like Pjaca or Piatti and really didn’t create any chances. Two moments of madness led to our downfall and that was all she wrote for this. We need to pick up form.
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View attachment 172161
Inter vs. Torino
After outshooting us 10 to 1 in the first half, I bit into the team at halftime. “You’re disgracing yourselves out there! You look toothless and scared. You look like little boys still waiting for your balls to drop!” I yelled. In the second half, I saw a fired up team that tried to get something out of the game. We just lacked the power to get a goal however. I have belief that we’ll start scoring our chances soon. We are just unlucky now with suspensions and injuries and this showed in the fact that I could only name 5 players for my bench.
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View attachment 172156
Zenit vs. Inter
Zenit came in to this game with clear intentions to hit us on the break but my team did great in putting them to the sword. In the build up to this game, I worked on various attacking drills and new roles with some players and it paid dividends. James Ward-Prowse proved inspirational in the no. 10 role as he laid on two goals.
Gnoukouri was a sad casualty of the game and he’ll now miss 2-3 weeks.
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So our first real month of the season has passed and I am a bit disappointed with the results. From 6 games, we only won two and splitting the other four evenly with draws and losses. There were positives to take away from it though in the form of player performances.
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My undoubted performer of the month was Patric. The former Lazio man took no time to settle into the squad and fortune favored him with Nagatomo being injured. That means he has started all our games on the right side of the defense and he’s starred in them all with an average rating of 8.12, even picking up an assist.
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Our next performer this month was James Ward-Prowse. The Englishman has settled into life in Milan just fine and put in some commanding performances over the month, picking up his first goal for the club as well as two assists.
View attachment 172155
My undoubted performer of the month was Patric. The former Lazio man took no time to settle into the squad and fortune favored him with Nagatomo being injured. That means he has started all our games on the right side of the defense and he’s starred in them all with an average rating of 8.12, even picking up an assist.
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Our next performer this month was James Ward-Prowse. The Englishman has settled into life in Milan just fine and put in some commanding performances over the month, picking up his first goal for the club as well as two assists.
I’m only now waiting for the other players to catch up to their level then we’ll truly be a force this season. I can only hope for an improvement in the 6 matches coming up in October.
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October
Milan,
The tension in the room was at its highest despite the silence. Father and Uncle Bruno sat next to each other at the end of the table while Andrei stood by the door. Ramon and I stood next to a window and took occasional glances outside it whenever we heard a sound of a car or saw headlights pass by. The last person to come through the door was Frank and he was at the opposite end of the table reading through a sports magazine, occasionally breaking the silence to share news with the room.
We had rented a small house not too far away from where I lived to meet Rafael, a man we once considered an enemy. Many in the room couldn’t understand why but father deemed it necessary, Uncle Bruno agreed and that was enough for it to happen. Meeting him wasn’t the problem to many, it was the decision to meet him so close to where our families slept. Then the inexplicable idea of taking him back home to actually show him where we lived and provide him ways to contact us if he needed to. As we waited, I couldn’t fight the urge to argue the idea once more.
“Father, explain to me once more. Why are we doing this again? We could have met him outside the country but to bring him into our home. How can we trust a man who once plotted to kill us all?” I asked, taking a seat at the table. Everyone else had stopped what they were doing and looked towards him for his answer.
Leaning forward, chin pressed to his clasped fingers he answered calmly and in his usual slow authoritative speech, “We killed his father. He grew up with the love of his brother and your uncle, being raised by both. This is all he had in his life and then it gets taken away from him. Imagine your family being taken away from you Alexei.”
“You were taken away from me,” I argued.
“Yes but you had your sister, Ramon, your uncle Vitor. You grew and expanded your family. You have Andrei, your sons. You have to understand that Rafael has no one else. He sought out his enemy for some amount of solace. We will give this to him. He needs to feel a part of something. We will welcome him with arms wide open.”
“But what if this is just some ruse? Will you put all our lives at such risk?” I made the conscious effort to control the tempo of my words and the pitch of my voice. Crossing father, even at this point in my life was still one of the last things I ever wanted.
He sighed, “If you trust me Alexei, you will trust this decision. Everyone in this room, including Rafael when he gets here, has the same objective. Your uncle is in grave danger, this is clear. We must make it a point to find out who has him and why they do. We are a team and we must behave like it. Only then will we be able to collective reach our target. It’s the same in football so surely you understand this.”
Trust is something I’ve preached to every team I’ve managed and my father knew this. He spoke to me in a way I would understand and I suddenly didn’t know how to argue with him anymore. It’s something that I had lost sight of in Inter as my players haven’t been showing the trust and team ethic I require from them. It’s something I would need to address after tonight.
With my mind switching from the conversation before me to football, I eased into my chair and remained quiet. Everyone else had realized that father had won this disagreement between us and smiled to themselves as they went back to what they were doing. Shortly afterwards, Rafael arrived. He was unarmed as a show of peaceful intentions and he came alone, pointing out that he’s trusted no one since Carlos and Vitor’s disappearance, not even his own security detail. Andrei was the first to greet him and Rafael recalled meeting him on the pier almost a year ago. He was then introduced to everyone else and seemed a bit overawed by it all.
“You are all referred to as immortal men by those in our business,” he said pointedly looking at us Barbosa men. “The foundation that deceives death,” he continued as he looked towards father and Uncle Bruno, “the heir who eludes light and effectively becomes a shadow,” he said referring to me.
‘Then the titanium support, the walls that no one can get by or figure out,” he said finally observing Frank, Andrei and Ramon. “You all seem like ordinary men when I stand here and look around but the lore that surrounds you all. Even you, the journalist, Frank was it? It’s exceptional. Very few know your faces even though you show them in plain sight. That’s remarkable.”
We all smiled at his praises and soon the tension had passed as we settled around the table. From there we discussed the matter at hand with Vitor and Carlos’ apparent abduction and subsequent potential torture. Rafael recounted everything he told me about getting the fingers and when he realized they were missing. Since our meeting in Qatar and our meeting now he said he has had no further developments and has been in one of his safe houses in Brazil. We asked him about any potential enemies Vitor may have had and he responded with “you” even managing a smile at the end. He said the cold hard fact was that Vitor’s life revolved around our family. He pointed out his belief that Vitor wasn’t actually trying to harm any of us however despite his actions and the reason he didn’t pull the trigger back on the pier with me was because of this belief. He said Vitor seemed to be secretly dealing with a much bigger picture and seemed to use his previous actions as a way to distract him and me.
“I’ve torn apart his office at our main safe house for clues. I found a map that seemed like he was tracking someone’s movements but it turned out to be yours. From Russia to the Bahamas to Brazil to England to Italy, they all mirrored your movements.”
“I’ve never been to England,” I pointed out. “No one in my family has recently. Father, Ramon, Andrei? Have you? What about you and Alexis, Frank?”
They all responded with a no.
“Hmm. Are you certain? He visited England multiple times without us and we assumed it was to keep an eye on you.”
“Well, there’s our clue then. There’s something, or someone in England and we must find out who,” father said.
“Rafael, I’d like to take a look at Vitor’s office if you don’t mind. Maybe I can find something you missed,” Uncle Bruno then said before Ramon agreed to join him.
“If you can find information on his flights then we could pinpoint exactly where in England he has been. I could talk to hotel employees hoping they’ve seen him,” Frank said. His journalistic background made him our man to get information from unsuspecting people.
“I’ll get Sergey to see if he hears any chatter about the abductions. Rafael, where was your brother and Vitor before you realized they were missing?” Andrei asked.
“My brother took a trip to the States. I don’t know where Vitor was. When we last spoke he was in Europe but he never says exactly where he is. Not over the phone.”
“Don’t worry Rafael, we’ll figure it out. We can start preparations tomorrow and continue to share information as we get it. Alexei, you know you have to keep focusing on Inter Milan right? You can’t get too involved in this,” father said.
“I know. I still want to know everything that’s happening though.”
“You will. Now then, Rafael will you join us for dinner at Alexei’s? This is our show of trust towards you. From this day forward, you will be considered one of us – a part of our family.”
Rafael looked almost stunned and in disbelief with his eyes welling up. At this moment, it showed what father said before he got here. He had been alone and just needed to be a part of a team.
“Of course, he’ll join us. I won’t take no for an answer,” I said with a smile. Getting up from my seat and putting a hand around his shoulder.
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October
Inter vs. Palermo
Another frustrating evening for my players as we couldn’t create and my bench lacks a creative mind with Piatti and Pjaca still missing. I cannot express enough how I miss these two players. I now welcome the two week international break and hope I can get my players back and ready to score.
Sciacca who came on as a sub is now injured as well for 2 weeks.
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October 4, 2017Another frustrating evening for my players as we couldn’t create and my bench lacks a creative mind with Piatti and Pjaca still missing. I cannot express enough how I miss these two players. I now welcome the two week international break and hope I can get my players back and ready to score.
Sciacca who came on as a sub is now injured as well for 2 weeks.
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Milan,
The tension in the room was at its highest despite the silence. Father and Uncle Bruno sat next to each other at the end of the table while Andrei stood by the door. Ramon and I stood next to a window and took occasional glances outside it whenever we heard a sound of a car or saw headlights pass by. The last person to come through the door was Frank and he was at the opposite end of the table reading through a sports magazine, occasionally breaking the silence to share news with the room.
We had rented a small house not too far away from where I lived to meet Rafael, a man we once considered an enemy. Many in the room couldn’t understand why but father deemed it necessary, Uncle Bruno agreed and that was enough for it to happen. Meeting him wasn’t the problem to many, it was the decision to meet him so close to where our families slept. Then the inexplicable idea of taking him back home to actually show him where we lived and provide him ways to contact us if he needed to. As we waited, I couldn’t fight the urge to argue the idea once more.
“Father, explain to me once more. Why are we doing this again? We could have met him outside the country but to bring him into our home. How can we trust a man who once plotted to kill us all?” I asked, taking a seat at the table. Everyone else had stopped what they were doing and looked towards him for his answer.
Leaning forward, chin pressed to his clasped fingers he answered calmly and in his usual slow authoritative speech, “We killed his father. He grew up with the love of his brother and your uncle, being raised by both. This is all he had in his life and then it gets taken away from him. Imagine your family being taken away from you Alexei.”
“You were taken away from me,” I argued.
“Yes but you had your sister, Ramon, your uncle Vitor. You grew and expanded your family. You have Andrei, your sons. You have to understand that Rafael has no one else. He sought out his enemy for some amount of solace. We will give this to him. He needs to feel a part of something. We will welcome him with arms wide open.”
“But what if this is just some ruse? Will you put all our lives at such risk?” I made the conscious effort to control the tempo of my words and the pitch of my voice. Crossing father, even at this point in my life was still one of the last things I ever wanted.
He sighed, “If you trust me Alexei, you will trust this decision. Everyone in this room, including Rafael when he gets here, has the same objective. Your uncle is in grave danger, this is clear. We must make it a point to find out who has him and why they do. We are a team and we must behave like it. Only then will we be able to collective reach our target. It’s the same in football so surely you understand this.”
Trust is something I’ve preached to every team I’ve managed and my father knew this. He spoke to me in a way I would understand and I suddenly didn’t know how to argue with him anymore. It’s something that I had lost sight of in Inter as my players haven’t been showing the trust and team ethic I require from them. It’s something I would need to address after tonight.
With my mind switching from the conversation before me to football, I eased into my chair and remained quiet. Everyone else had realized that father had won this disagreement between us and smiled to themselves as they went back to what they were doing. Shortly afterwards, Rafael arrived. He was unarmed as a show of peaceful intentions and he came alone, pointing out that he’s trusted no one since Carlos and Vitor’s disappearance, not even his own security detail. Andrei was the first to greet him and Rafael recalled meeting him on the pier almost a year ago. He was then introduced to everyone else and seemed a bit overawed by it all.
“You are all referred to as immortal men by those in our business,” he said pointedly looking at us Barbosa men. “The foundation that deceives death,” he continued as he looked towards father and Uncle Bruno, “the heir who eludes light and effectively becomes a shadow,” he said referring to me.
‘Then the titanium support, the walls that no one can get by or figure out,” he said finally observing Frank, Andrei and Ramon. “You all seem like ordinary men when I stand here and look around but the lore that surrounds you all. Even you, the journalist, Frank was it? It’s exceptional. Very few know your faces even though you show them in plain sight. That’s remarkable.”
We all smiled at his praises and soon the tension had passed as we settled around the table. From there we discussed the matter at hand with Vitor and Carlos’ apparent abduction and subsequent potential torture. Rafael recounted everything he told me about getting the fingers and when he realized they were missing. Since our meeting in Qatar and our meeting now he said he has had no further developments and has been in one of his safe houses in Brazil. We asked him about any potential enemies Vitor may have had and he responded with “you” even managing a smile at the end. He said the cold hard fact was that Vitor’s life revolved around our family. He pointed out his belief that Vitor wasn’t actually trying to harm any of us however despite his actions and the reason he didn’t pull the trigger back on the pier with me was because of this belief. He said Vitor seemed to be secretly dealing with a much bigger picture and seemed to use his previous actions as a way to distract him and me.
“I’ve torn apart his office at our main safe house for clues. I found a map that seemed like he was tracking someone’s movements but it turned out to be yours. From Russia to the Bahamas to Brazil to England to Italy, they all mirrored your movements.”
“I’ve never been to England,” I pointed out. “No one in my family has recently. Father, Ramon, Andrei? Have you? What about you and Alexis, Frank?”
They all responded with a no.
“Hmm. Are you certain? He visited England multiple times without us and we assumed it was to keep an eye on you.”
“Well, there’s our clue then. There’s something, or someone in England and we must find out who,” father said.
“Rafael, I’d like to take a look at Vitor’s office if you don’t mind. Maybe I can find something you missed,” Uncle Bruno then said before Ramon agreed to join him.
“If you can find information on his flights then we could pinpoint exactly where in England he has been. I could talk to hotel employees hoping they’ve seen him,” Frank said. His journalistic background made him our man to get information from unsuspecting people.
“I’ll get Sergey to see if he hears any chatter about the abductions. Rafael, where was your brother and Vitor before you realized they were missing?” Andrei asked.
“My brother took a trip to the States. I don’t know where Vitor was. When we last spoke he was in Europe but he never says exactly where he is. Not over the phone.”
“Don’t worry Rafael, we’ll figure it out. We can start preparations tomorrow and continue to share information as we get it. Alexei, you know you have to keep focusing on Inter Milan right? You can’t get too involved in this,” father said.
“I know. I still want to know everything that’s happening though.”
“You will. Now then, Rafael will you join us for dinner at Alexei’s? This is our show of trust towards you. From this day forward, you will be considered one of us – a part of our family.”
Rafael looked almost stunned and in disbelief with his eyes welling up. At this moment, it showed what father said before he got here. He had been alone and just needed to be a part of a team.
“Of course, he’ll join us. I won’t take no for an answer,” I said with a smile. Getting up from my seat and putting a hand around his shoulder.
View attachment 171571
Carpi vs. Inter
This was a smash and grab win. The players are adjusting to our new approach and while we looked the better side than Carpi, as we should, we still got away with a scrappy win. With my attacking numbers still low thanks to injuries or fatigue, I called on the young Luka Kerrin to lead the line and he repaid my faith with a debut goal. It doesn’t look good for our marquee signing Borini though who has yet to find the night.
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Inter vs. Bursaspor
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So a rotated squad once more for our group stage encounter. A number of players come back into the match-day squad after injury layoffs with Piatti, Nagatomo and Sansone all being available and what can I say? I missed them. We showed an attacking flair for the first time all season and took a two nil lead thanks to Sansone. We crumbled somewhat in the second half, especially after a Juan Jesus red(I can’t fault him here. He took one for his team) but Piatti turned hero and scored the winning goal. I can only see good things ahead.
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Inter vs. Atalanta
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Disappointing. We let our slender lead slip from a lapse in defense late in the game and we couldn’t come back into it. How could we when we did so poorly creating chances despite having so much possession in our favour? I can’t see it enough, we have work to do. These players aren’t playing as a team. Individually they are good, together they are poor. The young Kerrin gives me hope they as he bagged his second goal in 2 starts.
Sansone will be out for 2 weeks again.
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Cesena vs. Inter
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I finally saw a great team game from my charges. There’s still plenty to improve on but this was probably the best performance I’ve seen from them all season all things considered. Handanovic looked solid in goal while Kerrin has made it 3 for 3, cementing his place in the starting line-up in the league for now.
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Inter vs. Sassuolo
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Slowly and steadily, we are improving. Despite going down a man very early, we grinded this one out and got the win thanks to the young Kerrin. The boy has ice in his veins on that field and I see the ambition I had when I was younger and realized I had the world in front of me to seize.
View attachment 171556
So October ended with a nice win. It was a much better month than September where we picked up 4 wins and 2 draws from 6 games. I used the international break and the words of my father to recollect my thoughts and ideas for the team and then made the necessary changes and so far I’ve been very pleased with them. The team has worked particularly hard this month to adjust and impress and I cannot be more pleased.
The standout performer for October has to be the 18 year old Luka Kerrin. At a time where we badly lacked goals, he came in and scored 4 in as many appearances and is our top scorer in the squad already. I don’t know how far the youngster can go in developing but I’m willing to hand him the chance to find out. No one else has caught my eye this month as much as the youngster.
View attachment 171555
This was a smash and grab win. The players are adjusting to our new approach and while we looked the better side than Carpi, as we should, we still got away with a scrappy win. With my attacking numbers still low thanks to injuries or fatigue, I called on the young Luka Kerrin to lead the line and he repaid my faith with a debut goal. It doesn’t look good for our marquee signing Borini though who has yet to find the night.
View attachment 171570
View attachment 171569
View attachment 1029723
Inter vs. Bursaspor
View attachment 171568
So a rotated squad once more for our group stage encounter. A number of players come back into the match-day squad after injury layoffs with Piatti, Nagatomo and Sansone all being available and what can I say? I missed them. We showed an attacking flair for the first time all season and took a two nil lead thanks to Sansone. We crumbled somewhat in the second half, especially after a Juan Jesus red(I can’t fault him here. He took one for his team) but Piatti turned hero and scored the winning goal. I can only see good things ahead.
View attachment 171567
View attachment 171566
Inter vs. Atalanta
View attachment 171565
Disappointing. We let our slender lead slip from a lapse in defense late in the game and we couldn’t come back into it. How could we when we did so poorly creating chances despite having so much possession in our favour? I can’t see it enough, we have work to do. These players aren’t playing as a team. Individually they are good, together they are poor. The young Kerrin gives me hope they as he bagged his second goal in 2 starts.
Sansone will be out for 2 weeks again.
View attachment 171564
View attachment 171562
Cesena vs. Inter
View attachment 171561
I finally saw a great team game from my charges. There’s still plenty to improve on but this was probably the best performance I’ve seen from them all season all things considered. Handanovic looked solid in goal while Kerrin has made it 3 for 3, cementing his place in the starting line-up in the league for now.
View attachment 171560
View attachment 1029734
Inter vs. Sassuolo
View attachment 171557
Slowly and steadily, we are improving. Despite going down a man very early, we grinded this one out and got the win thanks to the young Kerrin. The boy has ice in his veins on that field and I see the ambition I had when I was younger and realized I had the world in front of me to seize.
View attachment 171556
So October ended with a nice win. It was a much better month than September where we picked up 4 wins and 2 draws from 6 games. I used the international break and the words of my father to recollect my thoughts and ideas for the team and then made the necessary changes and so far I’ve been very pleased with them. The team has worked particularly hard this month to adjust and impress and I cannot be more pleased.
The standout performer for October has to be the 18 year old Luka Kerrin. At a time where we badly lacked goals, he came in and scored 4 in as many appearances and is our top scorer in the squad already. I don’t know how far the youngster can go in developing but I’m willing to hand him the chance to find out. No one else has caught my eye this month as much as the youngster.
View attachment 171555
*Decided to start posting line-ups. You'll find some line-ups missing a couple times as I often forgot I was doing that now so I didn't take the screenshots.
**Kerrin's screenshot was taken a couple months after his breakthrough. His stats have increased a little since this month for him.
**Kerrin's screenshot was taken a couple months after his breakthrough. His stats have increased a little since this month for him.
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