[As i translate i overlooked but Leon Feng was used a lot. He will be called just Leon from next chapter. Leon Feng will be used only in necessary context]
"Who the hell can tell me what is going on?!"
During the half-time interval, Mancini Jr. stormed back into the dressing room and gave the door frame a hard kick.
On the touchline, Mancini Jr. had always been known for his composed and refined image, but right now that composure had been completely shattered.
They were going to lose this Milan Derby.
Inter Milan currently led AC Milan by two points in the table.
If they lost this match, Inter Milan's points tally would be overtaken by AC Milan.
Although in the context of the full season, the gap between the two sides in the table did not matter all that much.
That was because this season, neither half of the Milan rivalry could see any realistic hope of qualifying for European football.
However, for the leadership of both clubs and for their supporters, it was an entirely different matter.
As far as Mancini Jr. was concerned, Inter Milan had played perfectly well in this match.
The attacking play had been good, creating a large number of chances on goal, with only the finishing missing.
The defending had been equally solid, and aside from those several instances where Leon Feng had launched attacks with his goalkeeper throws, AC Milan had only looked lively going forward without genuinely threatening Inter Milan's goal.
So was everything down to that goalkeeper from the East, Leon Feng?
Mancini Jr.'s brow furrowed.
He had rarely seen a goalkeeper influence a match to this degree.
A goalkeeper keeping a clean sheet he could understand.
But a goalkeeper initiating attacks and registering an assist was something else entirely.
"Hey, Coach, come out here for a minute!"
Just as Mancini Jr. was about to lay into his players, he was pulled aside by the club's management.
"Alright, alright, I understand!"
"Don't worry, I will turn things around out there!"
Mancini Jr. kept offering assurances.
The club's senior leadership had handed him a clear order.
A draw or a narrow defeat in this Milan Derby was the absolute minimum.
If they lost by a heavy scoreline, they would be seriously reviewing his position as head coach.
"Damn it!"
Mancini Jr. muttered under his breath.
"In the second half, I want our attacking play to be more decisive!"
"Don't tell me you can't even break through the goal of some rookie goalkeeper from the East!"
Mancini Jr. began shouting at his players.
On the other side, the atmosphere in the AC Milan dressing room was completely different, positively buoyant.
A 2-0 lead had clearly lifted a great deal of pressure from the AC Milan players.
If they could go on to win this match, AC Milan would keep alive their chances of continuing to chase the top four in Serie A.
Leon Feng was still sitting quietly in his corner, but the looks his teammates gave him had changed completely.
Apart from Agazzi, whose gaze still carried a faint edge of hostility, every other teammate looked at Leon Feng with warmth.
Menez, who had benefited directly from Leon Feng's assist, even walked over and started chatting.
"Hey, Leon, that assist of yours was absolutely brilliant!"
"Can we get a few more in the second half?"
Menez was clearly in high spirits.
Over the past few matches, Menez's style of play had been under constant attack from the media.
It had annoyed him greatly.
Because his style of play had never changed at all.
When Menez had been scoring goal after goal at the start of the season, the media had praised his approach without reservation.
Wretched media.
Now Menez had finally scored again, and he could not wait to see what those shameless outlets would have to say.
Menez felt deeply satisfied.
The look he gave Leon Feng was growing warmer by the moment.
"No problem!"
"But you have to take your chances, don't waste my assists!"
Leon Feng looked up and said with a quiet smile.
"Hey, Leon, pass it to me too!"
Suso saw Menez getting friendly with Leon Feng and quickly put in a word of his own.
"Hey, me too!"
Bonaventura chipped in straight after.
"Ha ha!"
The other players all burst out laughing at the same time.
This AC Milan side had never really had a proper creative hub.
Out on the pitch they basically played by feel, going wherever instinct took them.
Now that Leon Feng had suddenly shown a degree of creative ability, he had instantly become the most wanted man in the room.
It was admittedly a little unusual for a goalkeeper to become the creative hub, but who was to say it could not be done?
"Hey, boys!"
"Let's keep it going in the second half!"
At that moment, Inzaghi walked in looking absolutely radiant.
"Leon, how do you see us playing in the second half?"
Inzaghi asked the question almost instinctively.
Hiss!
Every AC Milan player nearby froze on the spot.
Was the head coach actually asking a player for tactical input?
This was something none of them had ever experienced before.
Perhaps Ronaldo or Messi might receive that kind of treatment.
But Leon Feng?
He was just an eighteen-year-old rookie goalkeeper.
Assistant coach Tassotti beside him was also a little surprised, though he quickly broke into a smile.
Given Inzaghi's coaching style, asking a question like that was not so strange.
And after the first half, it was beyond any doubt that Leon Feng had influenced both ends of the pitch for his team.
In this match at least, Leon Feng was worthy of that kind of treatment.
"Coach, I think we can push the offside trap even further."
"Give them more one-on-one chances."
"They won't pass up one-on-one opportunities."
Leon Feng smiled quietly as before.
But there was something about that smile that always made people feel it carried a slightly mischievous edge.
"Oh?"
Inzaghi paused for a moment, then broke into a smile as well.
"Good!"
"Let's do exactly that!"
Inzaghi made the call and that was that.
Good grief.
The other players all exchanged baffled looks.
In every other match, the coaching staff had always been focused on how to prevent the opposition from creating one-on-ones.
Now they were supposed to hand them over deliberately?
Was Leon Feng really that confident he could save every single one?
Was that not a little reckless?
The second half kicked off.
Inter Milan won the toss to restart.
Mancini Jr. watched in alarm as AC Milan, far from dropping into a defensive shape, pushed their formation even higher up the pitch.
"What? Who exactly is losing here?"
Mancini Jr. glanced at the scoreboard again involuntarily.
It was his side that was behind.
AC Milan pressed their formation forward and went straight into a high press.
However, the front four combination of Suso, Torres, Bonaventura, and Menez were only moderately effective in the press.
Inter Milan played through it with a few passes and sent the ball directly into their attacking half.
AC Milan's high press had failed.
And because their formation had pushed so far up, there was a massive gap of space behind AC Milan's defensive line.
Inter Milan's young talent Shaqiri chose this moment to show exceptional vision and passing ability, curling a single pass over the entire AC Milan defensive line.
"Disaster, AC Milan's offside trap has failed!"
"Icardi has a one-on-one chance once again!"
"A striker of his calibre is not going to waste two one-on-ones in a row!"
"AC Milan have been far too reckless here and they will pay for it!"
"Inzaghi still has a great deal to learn as a manager!"
"..."
"Er... Icardi's one-on-one has been collected comfortably by Leon Feng!"
"Leon's quick throw has once again created a decent attacking opportunity for AC Milan, though it is a shame Suso's shot went straight at the keeper!"
"Ah... Leon Feng is making my commentary so awkward!"