If Terry was a lone wolf because he kept to himself, then Zlatan was a lone wolf because he simply didn't socialize.
Zlatan was the only player Kai chatted with for less than two minutes.
Even Mr. Kai, a complete social monster, couldn't manage a pleasant conversation with Zlatan.
In a certain way, Zlatan was a bit like Ronaldo.
Pride was their protective color.
The difference was that Ronaldo used defensive protection. Before you attacked him, he would remain relatively silent.
Zlatan, on the other hand, defended aggressively, using exaggerated or even arrogant words and attitudes to protect himself, using offense instead of defense.
This method worked extremely well when facing players of the same age or level.
So in the same environment, Zlatan thrived more than Ronaldo.
His arrogance would be considered part of his strength, and he would naturally gain a huge number of fans.
However, if he entered an environment where there were people much stronger and higher in status than him, Ronaldo might be isolated and excluded, but Zlatan would definitely get dealt with by the people at the top.
Sure enough, as training time arrived, the team bosses walked onto the training ground one after another.
They almost came together with Triguera.
Viana, Quaresma, team winger Kwame Ayew, midfielder Barbosa, substitute goalkeeper Nuno Santos, center-back duo Marcos and Facundo, and the others walked in together.
They arrived first.
These were all old members of the squad, and they had already played alongside Kai and Ronaldo last season.
João Pinto, Paulo Bento, Schmeichel, Deschamps, Matthäus, and Triguera came out at the end while chatting casually.
They were laughing and talking. All of them were older, and most were famous veterans.
Matthäus was undoubtedly the center of attention, even more so than Triguera.
"Mr. Maxa!" Matthäus greeted Maxa.
If it weren't for Maxa, the master tactician, Matthäus might really have considered himself above the team.
That was the aura of a superstar.
You couldn't treat him the same way as ordinary players. When working with superstars, you either treated them like friends or like fathers. There was no third option.
Many head coaches failed because they weren't good at handling relationships with players—they simply couldn't lower themselves enough.
This was a process that tested emotional intelligence to the extreme.
After a brief round of introductions, the team's training officially began.
On the first day, the focus was naturally on basic recovery training.
Thanks to Kai's reminder and the short post-Euro rest period preventing weight gain, the new signings were all in excellent shape.
As for the veteran players, with such major squad changes this season, they also paid close attention to maintaining their condition.
As a result, the team's early training sessions went very smoothly.
But new players always needed time to adjust to each other.
Everyone had different attitudes toward training, and those differences in mentality would eventually create friction in behavior.
For example, these training sessions had almost no effect on Matthäus.
He only needed to complete the minimum amount of daily training to maintain his touch and physical condition.
He was like an overwhelmingly powerful cannon whose durability was almost exhausted. Every serious use had to come at the most critical moment and in official matches.
High-intensity training was excessive wear and tear for him, and even Triguera hoped he would play "old-man football" during practice.
Meanwhile, for Zlatan, training was the most important battlefield for competing for his position.
His rival was obvious.
The Portuguese Super League Golden Boot winner last season—or rather, the man who had won the Portuguese Super League Golden Boot three years in a row… Jardel!
From Porto to Sporting Lisbon, although Jardel's league titles didn't reach four consecutive wins, his Golden Boots never stopped.
His dominance was obvious for everyone to see.
In addition, Didier Drogba from France also put pressure on Zlatan.
He and Drogba were completely different types of players. Zlatan's footwork, touch, and imagination were far superior to Drogba's, but players of that technical style generally disliked physical confrontation.
And that was exactly the type of thing Triguera disliked.
Compared to Zlatan, Triguera clearly appreciated Drogba's style of play more.
Sure enough, during today's training, Zlatan was still wearing the substitute bib.
But Drogba no longer needed one and had already begun integrating with the main team.
This made Zlatan furious.
After all, among Sporting Lisbon's signings this year, aside from Deschamps, he was the most expensive.
All these young players combined still weren't worth as much as Zlatan.
Viana: ?
Quaresma: ??
Ronaldo: ???
Kai: ????
Fonte: You're absolutely right!
As a result, during today's training match, Zlatan not only played more physically on offense as Triguera requested, but also defended actively.
Behind that enthusiasm, there was even an element of anger and revenge.
Boom!
Zlatan knocked Matthäus to the ground while he was shielding the ball.
Matthäus originally wanted to use his body to hold Zlatan off before releasing the pass, but unexpectedly, Zlatan stretched out his long legs to poke the ball away and shoved Matthäus aside.
It was a perfectly standard defensive action.
And that shove was exactly the kind of aggression Triguera wanted to see.
But the problem was… the person he shoved was Matthäus.
It wouldn't have mattered if it had been Deschamps.
Deschamps: ???
"What the hell are you doing?" Matthäus roared as he got up. "Are you trying to kill someone? This is a training match, not a fucking slaughterhouse!"
"Or do you think I can't deal with you anymore? You think I can't snap your damn legs?"
"You little bastard! I can't beat your ass or what?!"
Zlatan froze on the spot.
This… wasn't it good for a forward to defend with full intensity?
Why was he getting cursed at?
But Matthäus's aura was terrifying enough that anyone suddenly getting screamed at by him would first react with confusion instead of resistance.
Seeing Matthäus getting heated, the other players immediately rushed over to separate them.
"Hey, Swedish kid, apologize to Matthäus quickly," Deschamps said from nearby. He understood Matthäus's emotions very well.
"I'm from Sweden," Zlatan said awkwardly.
"Is Matthäus okay?" Viana came over to ask.
"You alright?" Paulo Bento also walked over.
"What happened? What's wrong with you, Zlatan?" Kwame Ayew, Marcos, Facundo, and the others all gathered around.
This was the team's number-one superstar.
And he was nearly forty years old—how could you hit him with that kind of force?
Didn't you understand that?
It wasn't that he lacked intensity. He just only used real intensity during official matches, okay?
Schmeichel, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kai, and the others also came over.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Zlatan doesn't understand yet. He went a little too hard. Mr. Maxa, please take Mr. Matthäus to get checked out," Kai said as he walked over. Besides calming the situation, he also conveniently pushed things further along.
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