Chapter 473: Chapter 473
"By the way, this novel was written by a Côte d’Ivoire author. Although it’s fiction, the experiences of the main character are entirely based on Yaya Toure’s life story. You should check it out when you have time."
"Also, speaking of this, your coach Pellegrini wrote a column for the Buenos Aires Sports Newspaper when he coached at River Plate over a decade ago. He wrote about fifty or sixty articles on football tactics, which I’ve collected and organized for you on a USB stick."
After reading Kompany’s autobiography, Tang Long gained a deep understanding of the ambition displayed deep within Kompany’s personality. He fed this insight into his AI system, which immediately had an impact during the away Champions League match against Seville.
Having tasted success, he felt compelled to read more books and materials to understand his teammates better.
However, the information he found online was very limited and inconsistent.
Some reports from tabloids and independent media were questionable—some could clearly be identified as fabricated jokes!
So, Tang Long thought of his good friend Dilata.
Dilata was a journalist by background and a seasoned sports media reporter.
She had a natural advantage in gathering books and materials related to players, and her keen eye helped her discern the authenticity of the information.
So Tang Long picked up the phone and called London. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝕟𝕖𝕥
At that time, Dilata was working overtime at the Sky Sports headquarters, feeling dizzy;
Upon hearing about Tang Long’s ambitious plan for collecting data, she instantly felt overwhelmed.
"Why do you want to understand your teammates so much? Are you planning to switch careers and write autobiographies for them?"
"Dilata, this is very important to me. I can’t explain it in a short time, but just tell me if you’ll help with this or not."
"What’s in it for me?"
"Hehe, I want something sincere, let’s see what you offer."
"While I’m at Manchester City, aside from what the club requires, I’ll decline all other media interviews. I’ll give my in-depth interviews, exclusively authorized to you, as many as you want," Tang Long paused, "Big news will be told to you first, just like the interview when I transferred from Inter to Manchester City."
Hearing this attractive offer, Dilata felt Tang Long was truly sincere and she immediately agreed.
Coincidentally, she was on a business trip to Manchester and brought all the collected materials over.
This Dilata truly lives up to being the senior sister of Sky Sports, her professional ability is astounding!
Not only did she collect materials quickly, but she also used her connections within Sky Sports to obtain some information that was no longer for sale.
Tang Long would have found nothing even after exhaustive searches online, if not for Dilata’s help.
For example, Dilata even managed to acquire a photo of Spanish winger Navas’s middle school report card.
The report card shows that Navas was a very biased student~
He scored nearly full marks in Spanish and history, but failed in English, math, physics, and other subjects.
Especially in English where the full score is 100 points, he scored only a dozen points.
Seeing this report card, Tang Long suddenly understood!
No wonder Navas still only speaks Spanish even after playing in the Premier League for so many years, the few English words he occasionally uses are hard to understand without listening closely.
He simply doesn’t have the talent for learning English as a language.
Tang Long picked up a book and sat on the sofa, reading with great interest.
Dilata, after much effort, organized all these books and materials neatly on the bookshelf, ready for Tang Long to peruse.
Just as this blonde Italian woman was completing all these services for Tang Long, the doorbell rang.
Dilata, sweating profusely, rubbed her aching waist and opened the door.
Manchester City’s team doctor Gracie stood outside the door, holding a thick file folder. When the door opened, standing before her was not Tang Long, but a tall woman.
The two stared at each other.
Gracie and Dilata knew each other; they had met once at a charity gala for retired players held in Manchester.
But Gracie hadn’t expected to see Dilata at Tang Long’s home.
The smile that had been on her face instantly froze.
Especially seeing Dilata covered in sweat and holding her back, Gracie’s mind flashed a lot of images she didn’t want to imagine.
"Hello, Gracie, please come in!" Tang Long broke the awkward situation.
"I think I better not come in; it’s inappropriate." Gracie bit her lip.
Dilata also looked at Tang Long.
Tang Long explained that Gracie was there to deliver his teammates’ medical records.
Tang Long’s thought process was very meticulous; not only did he want to understand the teammates’ backgrounds and cultural contexts, but he also wanted complete knowledge of each teammate’s tracking reports from Manchester City’s medical lab.
These reports include not only each Manchester City player’s injury history and recovery history but also regular check-up records and tracking of players’ physical conditions. Through these reports, Tang Long could completely understand the physical condition of his teammates.
To truly understand someone, knowing only their running positions, passing, and shooting habits is far from enough.
Whether it’s the players’ backgrounds and cultural contexts or their physical characteristics and injury history, all are valuable supplements for modeling players.
With more variables added, the models constructed by the AI system will be more precise, and more beneficial to Tang Long!
"Goodness, why do you want to know so much? Is Pellegrini about to be sacked and they’re planning to let you take over?" Dilata joked.
"Thanks, Gracie, haven’t had dinner yet? I’ll take you both to a nice restaurant. Come along, Dilata."
French star Nasri drove out for dinner and happened to see Dilata and Gracie following Tang Long out the door.
He quickly slowed down, took out his phone to snap a few pictures, and sped off.
Inside a public phone booth.
Nasri wore a mask and lowered his voice.
"Is this The Sun’s citizen tip hotline?"
"I’m a concerned citizen of Manchester, and I want to report a juicy scandal about Manchester City player Tang!"
"He had two women over at his house overnight, and I have photo evidence."
"Payment? No need, I don’t want a penny in reward, just make sure it’s on the front page tomorrow!"
(Recently, people have said the author’s writing is shallow; the author sincerely asks, what is not shallow—constant match-winning reports? I don’t want to write just match reports. These Chapters have interwoven some daily life, but the daily life is all revolving around football. It’s meant to explore the main character and the teammates’ relationships as groundwork. I’d love to hear your thoughts.)