I Just Can Score

After the 30th round of the league, Newcastle United quickly switched from 'league mode' to 'UEFA Champions League mode'. The Champions League quarter-finals are definitely more important than ordinary league games. They need to concentrate on preparing for the match against Villarreal. Two rounds.

Villarreal is not easy to deal with.

Speaking of Villarreal, it is not easy to find big-name stars in their team. The most famous player in the team may be a former Arsenal star--

Robert Pires.

Pires was born in October 1973 and is now almost thirty-six years old. For a midfielder and frontcourt player, he can start to consider retirement in his thirties, but Pires freely joined Pele at the age of thirty-three. For almost three seasons now, Villarreal is still Villarreal's main winger and one of the best players on the team.

He is truly evergreen.

In addition to Robert Pires, Villarreal also has stars such as Pudevila, Cazorla, Joseba Llorente, etc., but compared to the top European clubs, the overall lineup is still much worse. , even compared with Newcastle United, they have no advantage.

With a weak lineup, Villarreal can achieve good results in the league and reach the quarterfinals of the Champions League, relying on head coach Manuel Pellegrini.

Pellegrini, nicknamed ‘The Engineer’, is Villarreal’s biggest star.

Pellegrini's coaching success can even be described as 'legendary'. His career was not brilliant. He started his coaching career after retiring. At the age of 33, he coached the University of Chile team and began coaching the early South American football teams. experience.

At the beginning, Pellegrini was not considered successful, and was even somewhat of a failure. He led the University of Chile team, which had won six league championships, not only failed to achieve good results, but suffered a dismal performance. Downgrade.

After that, Pellegrini successively coached Palestino and O'Higgins, and also achieved relatively good results. However, the failure of coaching the University of Chile team has always been a shadow of his coaching past.

Pellegrini's real success began when he led his team to two second-place finishes in the A-League and also won his first personal coaching championship trophy in the 1994 Intercontinental Cup.

The following year, Pellegrini won the Chilean Champions League again.

This series of coaching achievements attracted the attention of the Ecuador Sports University of Quito. Pellegrini was hired by the team as the coach of the Ecuador Sports University of Quito in 1998. He soon led the team to its first league victory. champion.

Next, Pellegrini began to "quickly change jobs".

It started with the Ecuador Sports University of Quito team, and then moved to San Lorenzo in the next two years, and led the team to win the Autumn League Championship and the Mercosur Cup (equivalent to the European Union Cup). One year later, it was defeated by the Argentine River Plate. After being poached, he immediately led the team to victory in the Autumn League Champions Cup.

When you become the head coach of a South American giant, you will definitely go to Europe if you want to change jobs.

Pellegrini was discovered in Spain and became the head coach of Villarreal. He is also one of the few South American coaches to coach in Europe.

Pellegrini's arrival completely changed Villarreal.

The "Yellow Submarine" achieved quite astonishing results with a low budget. In the first season, Pellegrini led the team to third place in the league, entered the UEFA Champions League the next season, and ranked first in Europe. Advance to the quarter-finals in the UEFA Cup.

The following year, Villarreal reached the semi-finals of the 2005-2006 UEFA Champions League, losing to the Premier League team Arsenal.

In the following two seasons, the team ranked fifth and runner-up in the league respectively. The runner-up position was already Villarreal's best result in the league's history.

This season, Villarreal has been ranked among the top six in La Liga and has also reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League. This result will definitely satisfy all Villarreal fans.

From Pellegrini's past and coaching results at Villarreal, we can see why he is considered a 'legend' by fans. His coaching results are indeed legendary. It seems that he can coach any team. After winning quickly and successfully, he has been considered one of the top coaches. Many wealthy teams are interested in Pellegrini and hope to invite him to coach.

Therefore, in the match between Newcastle United and Villarreal, most of the Spanish media's hype about Villarreal focused on Pellegrini.

This is their advantage.

When it comes to stars, they definitely can't compare to Newcastle United; when comparing results, it's also difficult to compare. Newcastle United's league results are too strong. They are also the team with the most goals in the Champions League. They suppressed Barcelona and Inter Milan in the group stage, leaving the team behind. Liarreal could only look up.

So they are better than coaches!

Pellegrini is one of the most famous coaches. His very tough coaching history is the confidence of Villarreal and the Spanish media.

In comparison…

Where's Keegan?

Kevin Keegan is also a very famous coach, but his coaching starting point is too high, and it is difficult to distinguish between good and bad results in past coaching, because he is only considered an 'upgrade' master, that is, leading second-level league teams. The team was promoted, and those so-called second-tier league teams, such as relegated Fulham and Manchester City, were originally the best teams in the second-tier league. It is not surprising at all that they could be promoted quickly in the second year.

When a coach cannot win championships or create miracles, it will be difficult for his coaching achievements to be recognized by the outside world.

That's what happened to Keegan.

If compared to other ordinary coaches, Keegan still has a bit of a reputation. He does have rich coaching experience, plus the bonus of being a top star when he was young, he can also be called an 'excellent coach', but compared to Pepe For a head coach like Legrini who has been promoted step by step from the bottom relying on excellent coaching results, Keegan has nothing to compare with.

This also made Keegan very embarrassed.

When the outside media were hyping up the 'coaching comparison', he found that he was at an absolute disadvantage and couldn't say anything he wanted to say. What was particularly depressing was that even the British media believed that his coaching ability could not keep up with Pellet. Greene.

Keegan felt very angry and unwilling, but he could not change the public opinion, so he could only stay in the club and vent his frustration in the command training--

"No one can be lazy!"

"Get serious! Everyone must be serious!"

"We must prepare carefully! We must defeat Villarreal and get close to the semi-finals of the Champions League!"

This is the only thing he can do.

Newcastle United players don't feel so good. Usually Keegan is very good and does not impose strict training requirements. Players occasionally slack off and simply turn a blind eye.

Now, it's over.

Difficult and painful times have come.

Two days before the first round, the focus of media public opinion has changed slightly. When many media reports talk about Newcastle United, they no longer talk about the upcoming game because they have found a bigger and hotter focus- -

Gossip, transfers, gossip...

These are always the focus.

The origin of the matter was that a tabloid reporter photographed Manchester City manager Ross Carter appearing in Newcastle. Ross Carter is the latest manager to be promoted and is responsible for the club's transfer-related work, because it was handled by club chairman Mubarak. After being promoted, he was highly regarded by Mubarak and had great power in the Manchester City club. He also personally managed two heavyweight transfer transactions in the winter.

Ross Carter appeared in Newcastle and was immediately linked to Newcastle United.

In the initial analysis and reporting, the media linked Manchester City Club and Zhen Shaolong.

It is a well-known fact that Manchester City hopes to acquire Zhen Shaolong. Mubarak has been photographed in Newcastle, which must be directly related to Zhen Shaolong.

But the analysis of "Manchester Sports News" immediately shifted the public's attention to Michael Owen, "Zhen Shaolong's worth is very high. The transfer will definitely be a long negotiation. It is impossible to negotiate in a short time. Carter is likely to It’s for other people.”

"Michael Owen's contract with Newcastle United expires at the end of the season."

One sentence explains it all.

Michael Owen suddenly became the focus of public opinion. It was reported some time ago that the contract renewal negotiations between Owen and Newcastle United were not smooth. The reason is that Owen hopes to receive a certain salary increase, but Newcastle United believes that he cannot receive salary for his performance. rise.

Negotiations between the two parties were suspended.

At the end of the season, Michael Owen is "very likely" to leave Newcastle United, which has become a matter recognized by the media and fans. Which club will he choose to go to?

Manchester City!

When Manchester City and Owen are linked together, many people find it very strange. Owen was born in the youth training of Liverpool and is a famous star of Liverpool. Joining a team in Manchester always feels strange to people. If he chooses Manchester City, he is likely to be dismissed. Labeled 'traitor'.

This is the city feud between Manchester and Liverpool.

When there was a lot of public opinion from the outside world, it would definitely affect Newcastle United. Milner, who has a good relationship with Owen in the team, asked with interest, "Michael, are you going to Manchester City?"

Owen had a helpless expression on his face, "You're talking about reports from outside? I didn't even know there was such a thing!"

"Really?" Milner didn't believe it. "I think Manchester City is pretty good. It is said that they can get a very high salary."

"It's all fake news!" Irving said with certainty, "No one has contacted me at all, and I will never join the Manchester team!" He gritted his teeth when he spoke, showing a Liverpool man who deeply hates Manchester.

Zhen Shaolong was passing by.

Owen seemed to want to be affirmed, and asked Zhen Shaolong, "Do you believe it? Zhen? The reports outside are all false. That manager, his coming to Newcastle has nothing to do with me!"

Zhen Shaolong stopped and said very sincerely, "I believe you, Michael."

Owen was immediately moved.

Milner continued to pout, he still didn't quite believe it.

Zhen Shaolong only said one thing and walked away. He didn't want to talk about this topic because he knew better than anyone that the manager of Manchester City came to Newcastle solely for his transfer negotiations.

Newcastle United has started his transfer negotiations, and the targets are Real Madrid and Manchester City Club, because the two parties have signed a cooperation agreement. In fact, the targets are only one party.

Zhen Shaolong didn't know the specific situation, and he didn't care much about it, because the transfer fee, which was the focus of the dispute between the two parties, would not be sent directly to him.

Ashley knew that.

Because it involves huge amounts of money, it will definitely be a protracted tug-of-war, but Ashley will show up on time every time. The transfer fee offer has been raised to 235 million euros, but Newcastle United, or in other words, Arsenal Shi Li himself is still holding on to the 280 million euros.

This is not his bottom line.

Ashley's bottom line is 250 million euros, but it is not yet April, and there is still some distance before the summer transfer. The other party is so sincere that he is not worried about the transfer falling through.

Recently, the daily negotiations have been boring, and the bickering has been like a fight, but Ashley shows up on time every time and is somewhat enjoying it.

It’s all money!

One of the things that Ashley is most proud of is the introduction of Zhen Shaolong from St. Pauli, Germany. He believes that now is the harvest moment. He can make nearly ten times the profit in two years, and he can brag about it for the rest of his life.

After just finishing the 'fruitless' negotiations, Ashley started bragging again, and the target of his bragging was manager Charnley, "Did you see it? I will bite the price and won't lower it by one euro! It is said that they have already We have negotiated a cooperation, but if they cannot successfully introduce Zhen Shaolong, their cooperation will be a piece of waste paper!"

"We take the absolute initiative!"

"Fortunately, we signed a new contract with Zhen Shaolong. The liquidated damages are 300 million euros. Otherwise, the transfer fee would not be negotiated at this price." Ashley said happily. After walking to the parking lot, he saw the super car. , suddenly asked strangely, "Why didn't Zhen's car drive away? Is he still in the club?"

"Not sure."

Charnley shook his head.

"Where's Laura? Didn't she come this afternoon?" Ashley suddenly felt something was wrong. "I'll go back to the office and have a look. Maybe she's still waiting there."

Charnley was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly grabbed Ashley, and said suddenly, "That's right! Laura went back before seeing you, and asked me to advise you to drink less. Don't drink as much as last time. Forget about the day before.”

Ashley was immediately delighted by his daughter's concern. He smiled and shook his head and said, "What can a little girl understand? Today's negotiation was great. Let's go have dinner to celebrate. We must have a few more drinks." After that, he got in the car.

Charnley turned around and took a long breath, secretly looking down at the messages on his phone--

"Don't let Michael come to the office."

"Not before seven o'clock!"

"Thanks!"