Star Coach

West Ham United is making progress in the league and the Europa League. Although the league is not stable, Jiangshan is confident that he can hit the top three positions, and the Europa League basically locks in the group qualification. As long as he does not encounter strong teams in the round of 32, it will be easy to pass.

"You know that the Europa League group stage is so simple, I am too lazy to loan out Kante, Mahrez and Harry Kane. Anyway, there are many training and competition opportunities in the team." Jiangshan complained in his heart. In fact, even if he is given another chance, he will still choose to loan out a few people.

Without high-intensity game tasks, players will improve very slowly with just a few appearances in the cup.

Of course, Jiangshan has not given up on the League Cup. He wants to make a breakthrough in the cup this season, and the League Cup is a good choice. Teams participating in European competitions will join the League Cup competition from the third round.

West Ham United's first few draws are good. They easily passed the third round against Oxford United and the fourth round against Black Cat Sunderland.

Only in the fifth round, against the Potters Stoke City, the hard work lasted until the 90th minute, and Royce, who came on as a substitute, scored the winning goal and defeated the opponent 2:1 away.

The League Cup is De Gea's home, but his thin body has not been completely improved. The Premier League, especially the teams in the lower leagues, have been looking for him for physical confrontation, which makes De Gea very uncomfortable.

Last season, the team fell behind in the cup competition, and a lot of the pot was De Gea's. Jiangshan also talked to him specifically and told him about the team's future plans. He is the first choice of goalkeeper for the giants. He only needs to keep improving. Jiangshan promised to give him a starting position in the first team in the future.

Fortunately, De Gea has grown very fast this season. Under the training of goalkeeper coach Hawke, his goal line reaction is already top-notch. What needs to be strengthened is the ability to attack and the ability to confront the goal.

He was lucky to pass several games in the Europa League and League Cup, and kept three games zero. His confidence is gradually growing.

"In the next game, we will face Manchester United. Of course, they will not play with all their main players, so I will still make you the first choice for the goalkeeper position." Jiang Shan had a heart-to-heart talk with De Gea after defeating the Potters.

"By next season at the latest, you will be the main goalkeeper of the first team. Believe me, you will become the best goalkeeper in Spain and even in the whole of Europe."

De Gea looks like an alpaca and looks at Jiang Shan excitedly, "Coach, can I really do it?"

De Gea can now chat with Jiang Shan in English. He used Spanish last season. It seems that the language teacher arranged by the team has some effect, and he studies very hard.

"I believe in you, and you should be more confident. West Ham will become a European giant team. You are the main goalkeeper, so you must have the awareness of playing for the top giants."

"Hehe... so good." De Gea smiled shyly, "I will work hard."

Facing Manchester United in the League Cup, Ferguson did not try his best. They arranged a lot of young players to play. Fabio, Rafael, and Cleverley, this group of players, are ready to give up the game at a glance.

West Ham was not polite at all. Although there were young players like Eriksen on the field, the rhythm was controlled by Kroos. Facing Manchester United's weak midfield group, Kroos's gear was more than two levels higher.

The result of the game was just as Jiangshan expected. It was won without any danger, and the score was 2:1 again. Ferguson's league and Champions League went hand in hand this season. He was not eager for the two domestic cup competitions, and Jiangshan did not regard the young Manchester United team as an opponent.

What he had to guard against were teams like Manchester City and Arsenal. They had no hope in the league and were eager to make a breakthrough in the cup competition. The fighting power they burst out was very scary.

The League Cup semi-finals were determined in advance, West Ham occupied one place, and the other three teams were Ipswich, Birmingham and Arsenal. West Ham will play against Birmingham.

The League Cup semi-finals are also two-round competitions, and it is easy to have upsets. Of course, the semi-finals will not start until January next year, and there is still a lot of time.

As for the FA Cup, West Ham will also join in the third round and will not start to exert its strength until early January.

In the Europa League, Jiangshan arranged for young players to play early, and has already locked in the qualification for the promotion and entered the top 32. The remaining games were all used for training. Young players have enough game opportunities and are more likely to become talents.

After entering December, the games of Premier League teams have entered a dense area, and they have to deal with the most famous Christmas schedule of the Premier League. Every team is miserable.

Injuries also began to appear in the West Ham team. Bale sprained his ankle and stopped the pace of progress; Ballack's old injury also recurred, Melserman began to exert his strength, and David Silva also had injuries and muscle strains.

However, since joining West Ham, Jiangshan has arranged physical training and diet for him, basically keeping him healthy, and has become one of the most watched stars.

The injuries of the main players have caused West Ham's ranking in the league to be unable to rise, hovering between 345th and constantly swaying.

Their competitors are Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool. Arsenal has quietly moved to second place and performed very well.

West Ham United defeated Fulham 3:1 on Christmas Day. With the league halfway through, they are firmly in third place. They had previously defeated Arsenal and Liverpool. They are not afraid of strong teams.

Before the holiday, Jiangshan also held a small-scale meeting with several senior executives. Woodward would go out to handle large meetings, so it would be fine if he didn't show up.

Catherine excitedly took the annual report, "Boss, our net investment this year is only 30 million pounds. I believe that at this pace, we will be able to make a profit next year."

During the winter break, West Ham did not plan to buy players. At most, they would find a few young people to join the youth training team and began to save money. Compared with the team's expenses and income, there are still 30 million pounds of expenditures, which makes Jiangshan feel a little distressed.

"We bought too much. We need to control it a little next season." He looked through the report, "Such a small investment? It's not right. The fans will definitely not feel at ease."

Woodward understood immediately, "In fact, our net investment is about 80 million pounds. After all, the team spent a lot of money to buy people, and the team's equipment is constantly updated, which requires too much money."

"And the players' wages are also rising, at least 100 million pounds have been invested." Jiangshan added, "In addition, we are already purchasing equipment for the construction of a dedicated rehabilitation center, with an investment of at least 30 million pounds. Perhaps, the net investment will increase."

Catherine was stunned. What's going on? Is it a problem with the statistical caliber? I use the most professional statistical caliber, what can go wrong?

Of course, West Ham is not a listed company and does not need to publish financial reports. They publish these only to gather the fans' attention and prove their determination to become a top team.

On the contrary, when the company does the accounts, it needs to balance the accounts, which is a test of Catherine's skills. Fortunately, Woodward is experienced and can definitely handle it properly.

Then, before the end of the year, West Ham released its official annual report. The team's net investment in equipment replacement, youth training, player purchases, rehabilitation center construction, and new stadium construction reached 150 million pounds.

The bulk of the expenditure is on player purchases. The transfer fee plus salary is so much money that even if it cannot be compared with Manchester City, it is also at the forefront of the Premier League.

"We want to become a top club." Jiang Shan reiterated his goal.