Football: My AI System Provides Max-Level Predictions

"Yes, boss, that's what you said." Rein hesitated a bit as he spoke.

Actually, Pellegrini just said it casually at the time, intending to give the players a little reminder, like giving them a day off, telling them not to go anywhere, just to stay home obediently, even if it was to sleep in or play games.

The part about being reported by The Sun and being benched was something he just added off the cuff. He didn't pay attention to it afterward.

But who would have thought that his words, said without much thought, were taken seriously by Silva, who even wrote it down quietly in a little notebook!

After Silva and Rein reminded him like this, Pellegrini recalled that he indeed said such words, which was quite awkward now.

Before Pellegrini could reply, Toure spoke up again.

"Mr. Pellegrini, I also heard those words while on the plane. I understand that it might have just slipped out, and perhaps you didn't take it too seriously."

Hearing Toure, the veteran of Manchester City, make excuses for him, Pellegrini nodded in relief.

Alas, it seems Toure understands me, the elder, well enough to know that offhand comments shouldn't be taken seriously, right?

Moreover, we had just won 3-0, and being in a good mood, who would remember so many details?

However, Toure quickly changed his tone, causing Pellegrini's expression to drop again.

"But let's put aside whether Tang was on The Sun. Let's talk about the team's atmosphere first."

"During yesterday's day off, as you might know, nearly 10 players from the first team at Manchester City gave up their rest, voluntarily coming to the club early in the morning for extra training. You could see our presence in the gym and on the field."

"But look at what Tang is doing—spending 4 hours to go back and forth from Manchester to London just to date his new flame!"

At this point, Toure paused, placing his hands on Fernando and Fernandinho, who were beside him.

"These two younger brothers of mine both play as holding midfielders."

"They were also there during the extra training yesterday, reportedly arriving at the gym by 8:00 in the morning."

"There's something I'm not sure if I should say. Recently, you've moved Tang's position from attacking midfielder to holding midfielder, affecting the starting positions of these two younger brothers, especially Fernandinho, who hasn't played for many matches. They're all quite frustrated!"

"Do you think what you've done is fair?"

Finally, Toure didn't forget to emphasize a point.

"The reason I brought these two younger brothers here isn't for myself, as I'm the player with the highest attendance rate in the whole Manchester City team this season. I'm completely standing up for my teammates who bleed and sweat for the club even during holidays, yet are forced to sit on the bench. Is this fair?"

Seeing that Toure was backing them up.

The two Brazilian holding midfielders, Fernando and Fernandinho, nodded frequently, expressing their thoughts to Pellegrini.

Silva squinted at the three of them from the side.

Compared to the united front of those in the holding midfield position, Silva, who played as the attacking midfielder, stood alone.

As a member of the Spanish Language Gang, he had previously thought of going to Pellegrini along with Agüero to talk about it.

But Agüero gracefully declined Silva's request.

The reason, of course, needs no explanation.

In the attacking midfield position, Tang Long could provide more assistance to Agüero, offering more assists compared to Silva.

From this perspective of benefit, Agüero would definitely not go to the coach with Silva to pressure Tang Long.

Hearing his long-time friend Agüero decline his request, Silva couldn't help cursing inwardly!

"In the past five years, who knows how many goals I've assisted for you? And now that Tang has come along, you're cozying up to him? Such a fickle man!"

Thinking to himself, if you won't go, I'll go by myself!

Unexpectedly, he encountered Toure, Fernando, and Fernandinho on his way.

Now that's great, Silva felt more confident, after all, the strength of four people was certainly stronger than one.

Sixty-year-old Pellegrini had seen all kinds of scenes.

After listening to the players' complaints about Tang Long, and analyzing the position each was in, he immediately understood the unprecedented reason why these four players came directly to his office.

Wasn't it just because Tang Long's rise, with his brilliant performances in each position, had shaken the positions of these veteran players?

Pellegrini even thought that if it weren't for Agüero firmly occupying the starting center forward position, he would have come with these people to push for a change.

He thought: "Teammates were doing extra training on a rest day, while Tang Long went to London to have fun. This indeed isn't very considerate. The key is that it happened to be caught by The Sun, and it's natural for the other teammates to feel resentful."

On the surface, Pellegrini's attitude remained very firm, sending these players away.

However, privately, after discussing with the assistant coach Rein, he decided to exclude Tang Long from the starting lineup for the away match against Juventus.

There were two reasons for doing this.

Firstly, Pellegrini wanted to fulfill what he said to the players on the plane, otherwise, it would be difficult to convince them in the future;

Secondly, since this incident was causing such a stir in the United Kingdom, Pellegrini also worried it might affect Tang Long's state of mind. It might be better for him to sit on the bench temporarily to avoid the limelight.

As the training was nearing its end.

Pellegrini came downstairs from his office and announced the starting lineup for the match against Juventus in front of the whole team.

"Center forward, Agüero."

"Left-wing, Sterling."

"Attacking midfielder, Silva."

Hearing this, Silva tightly clenched his fist and let out a long breath!

Haha, I'm back to starting as the attacking midfielder. I really love playing this position!

However, the team's few holding midfielders still looked tense.

Pellegrini glanced at them.

"The two starting holding midfielders, Toure and Fernandinho."

As soon as he said this, Fernandinho's eyes brightened instantly, rubbing his hands excitedly;

Toure, beside him, appeared expressionless, yet a barely noticeable smile curved at the corner of his mouth.

The two members of the Italian Language Gang, Ranocchia and Korlovsky, looked with concern towards Tang Long.

Forward, attacking midfielder, holding midfielder—none of these positions included Tang Long.

It's not like they could let him play as a defender!

It seemed he wouldn't start against Juventus this time.

Sure enough, when Pellegrini finished reading the starting eleven, Tang Long's name never appeared.

Standing in the lineup, Toure couldn't help but turn sideways, glancing at Tang Long, who was five positions away from him.

He originally wanted to find all sorts of expected expressions on Tang Long's face.

Shock, grievance, reluctance, or anger?

Being left out of the starting lineup due to rumors from The Sun, despite his consistently good performance, his heart must be uneasy, hehe!

But what puzzled Toure.

Tang Long instead had a calm demeanor, without showing much emotional fluctuation.

In fact, he nodded slightly and smiled.

Toure snorted, thinking, "Pretend, keep pretending. If Fernandinho and Silva perform well in this match against Juventus and defeat a strong opponent, who will start in the future is still uncertain! Young man, you've only been playing for a few years, you probably still don't have a handle on the dressing room's dynamics!"