Mancini served as an assistant coach at Lazio for over a year, and later Eriksson left Lazio to coach the England national team.
However, the Swedish tactical master taught assistant coach Mancini a lot.
In 2001, at just 37 years old, Mancini took up a position with Florence’s first team, becoming the youngest head coach in the entire Serie A Alliance at the ti!
While the aura of retired star players coming to coach was undeniable, Mancini’s coaching skills also received genuine recognition.
Then everything went smoothly, returning to Lazio to coach in 2002, and winning over Inter’s favor in 2004, thus beginning his path to becoming a legendary coach.
Interestingly, Eriksson left Manchester City in 2008, and Mancini beca its head coach in 2009.
Prior to taking up the position, he also proactively sought advice from his ntor on England’s tactical issues.
Throughout his journey, Mancini has always regarded Eriksson as his life ntor, and their tactical styles have a vein of continuity—pragmatic, conservative, with winning as the top priority.
In a relaxed atmosphere, Mancini shared his thorny problems with Eriksson.
"Teacher, I feel that young players today are becoming harder to manage, especially those born in the ’90s, they are completely different from our generation."
Mancini was referring to Icardi.
Just the day before Mancini ca to China.
Inter’s current vice chairman, Mr. Sane蒂, suddenly visited Mancini.
At his luxury villa by Lake Como, Sane蒂 hinted repeatedly about issues concerning Icardi.
Sane蒂 subtly told Mancini that Icardi was not happy at Inter right now; he felt excluded.
"Mr. Mancini, Icardi is an important player for us, whether from a competitive standpoint or a club asset enhancent perspective, he should be valued, we must not lose him next sumr."
Mancini realized it was a conflict between Icardi and Gualin, or rather, a conflict between the Argentine faction and the South Arican faction.
He initially thought everything was under his control.
But Sane蒂’s sudden involvent was like a big rock being dropped into a bucket full of water, causing the previously contained water to overflow.
As the most revered captain in the history of Inter Milan Club, the pressures from Sane蒂 made Mancini feel the weight from the managent.
Before Sane蒂 ca to visit him, did he communicate with Sporting Director Ossorio and General Manager Fasone?
If even the owner Toshihiko is aware of this matter.
Then the pressure is not only from managent, but could also be from governance!
Mancini felt under a trendous amount of pressure, how to balance competitive results with appeasing the players—Mancini, at 50, also has monts of confusion.
Eriksson nodded.
He didn’t directly answer Mancini but talked about Chelsea.
"I coached the England national team, I have many friends in England, they told about such a thing.
Do you know Boas? Three years ago, when he was only 37, he began coaching Chelsea.
To demonstrate his control over the dressing room, he once hoped the club stars would fly economy class to Miami, this was t with resistance from all team mbers, and he was dismissed after more than a year at Chelsea.
I know what Boas was thinking, he looked at the club and players, then thought, okay, I’m a coach now, I need to do sothing, I need them to understand they must respect ! But he did it the wrong way.
Just like so players say, I’m a big star, you can’t ask us to fly economy class, this is a principle."
Eriksson’s words put Mancini into deep thought.
After a long while, he nodded, seeming to have figured sothing out.
Eriksson topped off Mancini’s cup with Wusu.
White foam gushed out, flowing slowly along the side of the cup.
"Robert, take it easy, you have nothing to worry about, you earn a handso reward at Inter, while many people in the world have to get up early to do heavy labor in factories, what do you have to complain about? Cherish what you have now!"
Afterwards, their conversation beca much more relaxed.
When Eriksson asked how much transfer budget Mancini had this winter, Mancini awkwardly smiled and held up one finger.
"A hundred million euros?"
"No, teacher, it’s 10 million."
Eriksson laughed when he heard this, and spoke about his experience at Harbor Club.
"I’m not sure about Europe, but the current transfer market in Chinese football is very crazy, we are about to sign a midfielder for the next season, almost finalized, the other party is also a Chinese player, they are asking for 50 million RMB, about 5.6 million euros, his na is Yu Hai, have you heard of him?
Mancini was taken aback, "Never heard of him, I only know Tang."
Eriksson continued, "See, even Chinese players you haven’t heard of cost 5.6 million, what kind of player can you buy in Europe for your 10 million euros?"
"I told my Sporting Director Ossorio, I need to bring in a forward, to create competition with Icardi," Mancini said.
Eriksson joked, "A forward? Let see, there’s a forward in our team nad Wu Lei, he’s very young, only 23, 10 million euros should be enough to get him, do you want to give it a try? Though I can’t promise this price is enough, our team isn’t short on money!"
Mancini couldn’t help asking, "Are Chinese players so wealthy? In recent years, Italy’s economy has been declining, bosses don’t have money, even Mr. Moratti’s refinery isn’t doing well, and Inter has been acquired by foreign investors."
"The prosperity of Chinese football is heavily tied to real estate," Eriksson continued to eat his grilled fish, "I don’t know how long this spending spree will last, it started in 2012, a team from southern China was funded by real estate developers, won the Asian championship, and this spending competition began."
"But in the SH City where I live, housing prices are even higher than so places in London, if there isn’t a bubble here," Eriksson shook the beer in his cup, "I don’t believe it."
At night, a sharp north wind blew on Chongming Island.
Drunk on Wusu beer, Mancini tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
He was still awake by one in the morning.
He repeatedly reflected on his teacher’s guidance, thinking about his young years as a player.
Suddenly his phone rang.
Seeing it was Ossorio, Mancini answered imdiately.
"Robert, two pieces of news, one good, one bad, which do you want to hear first?"
"Then I’ll listen to the bad news first."
"The bad news is, the winter transfer budget was halved, we only have 5 million euros in cash to work with."
"...And the good news?"
"The good news is, we’ve found the forward you wanted, Podolski, Arsenal is allowing him to leave."
"Can 5 million buy Podolski?" Mancini was sowhat incredulous.
"Loan, 60 thousand for six months! They say the buyout must be completed at the end of the season, but rest assured, I’ve added a buyout condition, or we can simply default on the purchase, there’s room for negotiation! Alas, I’ve been getting by like this all these years, don’t worry, being poor has its own way, give 1 million, I could loan across all of Europe!"
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