Chapter 59: Sharpening the Swords

When will José meet Hiddink again? He doesn't know. In his memory, the next step for Hiddink was likely to be moving to Asia and coaching the South Korean national team to a historic achievement at the 2002 World Cup. What happened to him afterward, José wasn't clear on. After all, back then, José was just an ordinary football fan. He followed the major European leagues and global tournaments like the World Cup and the European Championship. It wasn't until the 2006 World Cup in Germany, when Hiddink almost led Australia to knock Italy out of the quarterfinals, that Hiddink came into his radar. After that, José's impression of Hiddink mainly revolved around his time leading Russia to eliminate England and reach the European Championship final, as well as his brief stint as Chelsea's interim coach. As for what Hiddink did in between, José wasn't sure.

So, José thought it unlikely that he would encounter Hiddink again. After all, in his mind, Hiddink was a coach who had achieved great success with national teams but rarely worked with club teams.

As expected, the day after the match, Real Betis announced that Hiddink had been dismissed, with the assistant coach stepping in as the interim manager. Betis president Lopera stated that the team would fight bravely in the final three rounds to avoid relegation.

However, at this point, no one believed his words. In the same round, Oviedo defeated Sevilla, Santander and Numancia drew, and Betis found themselves three points behind the relegation zone, becoming just like Atlético Madrid, who had also lost that day.

José had nothing to say about Hiddink's dismissal. The team was plagued by internal factions, management interference, and a clueless president in Lopera, who liked to meddle in affairs. Under such circumstances, it would be a miracle to achieve good results.

As a top coach, it was a tragic way for Hiddink to depart. José couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness—no matter what, a manager's power is weak when facing the club, and even more so when up against a unified group of players. The reason is simple: it's easier to replace a manager than to overhaul an entire squad. For club presidents, it's always simpler to choose the former.

Thus, ambitious managers began to fight harder for power. Ferguson's position was unshakable, Wenger entered Arsenal's board of directors, and after his disappointing exit from Chelsea, Mourinho realized the importance of power, which eventually led to his power struggle with Valdano at Real Madrid. It wasn't necessarily just Mourinho's excessive desire for power, but the truth is, to fully control a club, one needs to steer it in the direction they envision.

If the players you want to keep are sold due to financial reasons, if players you don't want are brought in because of management's preferences, if players you wish to promote can't get a chance because of senior players holding their ground—this is the kind of thing a manager hates.

José didn't want to face this kind of situation, so he knew he needed to take control of the club's power. This half-season was merely the foundation for building his reputation among the fans.

Time passed, and the atmosphere at Mallorca's training sessions grew increasingly tense as the team focused on preparing for the upcoming UEFA Cup final. José's office was stacked with tapes of Arsenal's games from the past six months.

In terms of strength, Mallorca was definitely inferior to Arsenal. After all, Arsenal was the second-best team in the Premier League and had previously demolished La Liga leaders Deportivo La Coruña 5-1 at home in the UEFA Cup. In a direct face-off, Mallorca had little chance of winning.

But one of football's attractions is that the stronger team doesn't always win, especially in professional football where victory is never certain.

Moreover, Mallorca wasn't without its advantages. Although Arsenal had already lost any hopes of winning the league, trailing Manchester United by more than ten points, they still couldn't afford to take the Champions League qualification lightly. Besides Arsenal, Liverpool, Leeds, and Chelsea were all contenders for Champions League spots, and the fight for two spots was just as fierce as the title race. For Arsenal, the substantial revenue from qualifying for the Champions League was essential to funding their stadium construction, which meant they couldn't afford to give up that dream. Therefore, Wenger considered the Champions League qualification more important than the UEFA Cup title.

Now, Mallorca, with no major goals left to pursue, could focus on recuperating, while Arsenal had to continue battling in the league. Although the Premier League ended a week earlier than La Liga, Arsenal would immediately have to prepare for the UEFA Cup final on May 18th after playing their final league match on May 14th. They had little time to rest. Meanwhile, Mallorca had two league matches in the middle of the UEFA Cup final preparation but could afford to let them go.

This scheduling was just the right advantage for Mallorca.

On May 7th, Mallorca played away at Sevilla.

For this already relegated team, the match was nothing more than a matter of honor. However, it was evident that a team that had performed poorly all season and only had honor left to fight for couldn't muster much energy to push themselves to the limit. Much like Real Betis earlier in the season, they initially resisted with strength, but soon their defense collapsed.

In the 33rd minute, Sevilla's defender Nando was sent off after arguing with the linesman. Just two minutes later, Tristan received a pass from Eto'o inside the box, turned, and scored the opening goal!

In the 56th minute, Tristan was at it again, receiving a through pass from N'Gonga and scoring with a calm finish!

From that point on, it was Eto'o's show. He scored a goal himself and assisted Stankovic, and Mallorca triumphed with a dominant 4-0 victory—two consecutive 4-0 wins! Their points reached 52, and their ranking surged to 8th place!

"Mallorca's momentum is absolutely terrifying! Even after securing their safety, they haven't stopped pushing forward. If they hadn't lost so many points in the first half of the season, they would be competing for a European spot, perhaps even fighting for a Champions League berth! Their gap to leaders Deportivo La Coruña is just 13 points now! Of course, they have no chance of qualifying for the UEFA Cup, but they could potentially overtake 7th-placed Celta to earn a spot in the Intertoto Cup... But to secure their place in next season's UEFA Cup, all they need to do is beat Arsenal and win the title. Surely, José must already be thinking about the UEFA Cup!"

José was indeed thinking about the UEFA Cup. In fact, he started considering the final plans after Mallorca's home win against Leeds United. He'd thought more about it than anyone else.

After much thought, José concluded that the only way to deal with Arsenal was through counterattacking—because if they tried to play an open attacking game, Arsenal's quality would easily overwhelm them. With Bergkamp's technique and Henry's speed, Mallorca's defense would be in deep trouble. Especially Henry, a player who thrives when given space. The key would be to congest the space and limit his ability to break through. The speed of Overmars and Parlour on the wings would make any open space a deadly risk.

However, Arsenal's defense was also veteran-based, just like Mallorca's. If José could give up some midfield space and engage them in a defensive battle, while using Eto'o's speed to exploit any gaps, they would have a good chance.

So, in recent matches, apart from testing a more extreme defensive strategy against Barcelona in the second half, José had employed straightforward attacking tactics to throw off opponents, creating the illusion that Mallorca was strong defensively but not dangerous offensively.

His gamble was that Wenger, focused on the league, wouldn't have time to study Mallorca in detail. If Wenger couldn't anticipate José's extreme defensive approach, then his room for adjustment would be limited.

Wenger, a coach with strong tactical awareness but weak at in-game adjustments, would likely struggle if he relied on his usual strategy to beat Mallorca without preparing for José's unconventional tactics.

Meanwhile, José had been strengthening his players' penalty-taking skills. Every player, whether a starter or a substitute, had to take at least ten penalties every day. José didn't have the time or resources to study Arsenal's penalty habits, but British teams had always struggled with penalties. They hadn't had the time for much penalty practice, so José focused on preparing his players in case the match went to penalties.

Of course, whether it would even go to penalties was uncertain. José's goal was to win the match in normal time, and the penalty training was just a precaution, a final preparation for the players.

Now, all that remained was to wait for the day of the UEFA Cup final. José was filled with ambition, eagerly anticipating the moment when he would truly make his name in European football!

Arsenal! Wenger! They would be the obstacles to José's rise!

The swords were sharpened, the horses were ready, and now all that remained was to wait for the UEFA Cup final!