[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca":3,"chapter-emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-chapter-69":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Emperor of Football: Julien De Rocca",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1556056,2020,"Chapter 69: Chapter-69 Bad Luck?","emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-chapter-69",69,"\u003Cp>Seeing this massive upset—even by French Cup standards—happen to him, Deschamps was momentarily bewildered.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Marseille fans were bewildered. They had just won the Ligue 1 title in 2010, and now they were being told their full-strength squad couldn't beat a National league team?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Immediately after the match, French media L'Équipe pointed out that Deschamps hadn't given Quevilly-Rouen sufficient respect, with a starting lineup that was main strength but lacked targeted tactics, leading to lazy player attitudes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some commentators believed that Deschamps failed to adjust the defensive line timely during opponent counterattacks, especially lacking response to set-piece defensive vulnerabilities.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was also the root cause of the final elimination.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, fans mostly blamed the players' attitude problems, being relatively tolerant of Deschamps, considering the cup exit just an \"isolated incident.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, Deschamps had once captained Marseille to defeat AC Milan, making them the first French team to win the Champions League.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, currently the only French Champions League winner.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, when Marseille was stripped of their 1993 league title and relegated due to match-fixing scandal, Deschamps chose to stay and help the team return to Ligue 1.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After becoming Marseille's coach, he ended their 18-year league title drought and was named Ligue 1 Coach of the Year.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With these honors, which fan would want to criticize him over this one mistake?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Marseille's top management was also unwilling to delve deeply into this matter. They wanted to keep Deschamps. But Deschamps consistently refused to renew his contract.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Currently, Deschamps' coaching contract with Marseille had only three months remaining, ending when the season finished in June.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The management was desperate for Deschamps to continue—how could they dare investigate his match defeat?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That evening, Zidane also publicly supported Deschamps, stating that \"cup competitions have far more randomness than leagues, and this shouldn't be used to deny Deschamps' ability.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two were core partners in the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship winning teams, with Deschamps as captain and Zidane as the attacking core.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had a close personal relationship.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So aside from the media, no one really troubled Deschamps over this matter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, Deschamps himself clearly stated in his post-match interview that the result was \"disappointing and unacceptable,\" admitting the team's performance was below expectations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He mentioned: \"We have no excuses. Our opponents showed more determination, while we lacked the proper attitude and focus.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"When facing lower-level teams in cup competitions, you must give 200% effort, but we clearly didn't do that. This is a betrayal of the club and the fans.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Julien turned off the television.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He didn't continue watching Deschamps' interview. He had thought Bastia might have a chance to face Marseille, but didn't expect to forget about this match that was considered a mark in Deschamps' coaching career.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This match was a famous upset example in French Cup history.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A third-tier team eliminating Marseille—a Ligue 1 champion and Champions League knockout stage level team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was indeed a massive upset.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, in this year's French Cup quarter-finals, Marseille wasn't the only upset—Montpellier also lost to National league team GFC Ajaccio.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This GFC Ajaccio had no relation to the Ajaccio currently in Ligue 1—they were just both Corsican Island teams.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, unlike Deschamps, Montpellier had essentially given up on this match.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They fielded a full reserve team, seemingly deliberately losing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This season, Montpellier found themselves at the top of Ligue 1.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To go all-in for the Ligue 1 title, they directly abandoned the French Cup.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This meant that of the French Cup semi-finalists, only one was a Ligue 1 team: Lyon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>De Rocca found this result quite interesting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who could have imagined that the French Cup semi-finals would feature two National league teams?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Bastia would face Marseille's conquerors, Quevilly-Rouen, in early April.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they could defeat them, the final would most likely be against Lyon.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lyon had no major ambitions this season—the French Cup was their only realistic chance at a title, so they wouldn't underestimate opponents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Julien equally wanted to win the French Cup.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was a chance to play in the Europa League next season!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He needed high-level matches to earn more victory points. Without a summer transfer, the Europa League was clearly his best platform.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But transfer?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which team with European competition would he join that would also give him an absolute starting position?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Almost none.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those elite clubs would at most consider him future development, but wouldn't immediately give him a core starting role.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Other players wouldn't be satisfied either.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So only when he became strong enough would transferring be the right choice.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, seeing the semi-final opponent was a National league team, Châtaigner joyfully told Hadzibegic: \"We can start preparing for the final against Lyon early. You should study them well.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hadzibegic didn't agree, instead replied, \"Deschamps probably thought the same way. He might have already figured out how to contain Julien, but now they're already eliminated from the French Cup.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Châtaigner raised his hands in surrender, \"Fine, fine, fine. I won't interfere with specific match matters—that's your authority. But in the upcoming Ligue 2 matches, I hope you can let Julien score more goals. The Ligue 2 Golden Boot should also increase his market value.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hadzibegic couldn't help feeling annoyed—did Châtaigner think goals were something he could just order Julien to score?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But considering that since Julien's emergence, Châtaigner had almost completely stopped directly commanding the team, focusing entirely on Julien instead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This finally allowed him to coach the team freely without someone constantly interfering during tactical decisions, dictating who could or couldn't play.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So now, he endured it!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Fine.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hadzibegic actually also craved the French Cup title. Currently in the league, with both Clermont and Reims losing, their lead had expanded to six points.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was quite a good lead, and the remaining fixtures didn't include very strong opponents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ten league matches remaining, plus possibly two French Cup matches.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The final 12 matches of the season—if they won them all, they'd be double champions!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the Bastia-Rennes match, there were only three days of rest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They would then travel away to challenge Arles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was also a team that David might join after the season ended. Currently, David's agent was in contact with Arles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>David had quietly mentioned to Vincent a ridiculous operation by Arles.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"They told me that if I could bring Julien to Arles too, my salary could increase fivefold.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do I need that little salary boost? If I could decide which team Julien goes to, I wouldn't even recognize any commission under ten million.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Haha!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Both men laughed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After laughing for a while, David sighed, \"Who would have thought that in just a few months, we'd watch a guy with no team to play for become worth thirty million euros—the highest value in Ligue 2!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>________________________________________________________\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Check out my patreon where you can read more chapters:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>patreon.com\u002FLorianFiction\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks for the support\u003C\u002Fp>",1145,"2026-06-06T07:35:06.179Z",1,"novelbin.me","15f505fd82ba6cbae91961928984db15ad1406e73cd4b9cbb05849355a72131b","emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-chapter-70","emperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-chapter-68",628,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Femperor-of-football-julien-de-rocca-cover.jpg"]