The Godfather of Football

Walking into the Amsterdam City Hall, it is not difficult to find that many celebrities from all walks of life in Amsterdam have already gathered here, and a large number of them are related to Ajax, such as Ajax's directors and shareholders, as well as several Ajax's senior executives and former stars.

It is also a great honor for Ajax that the former head coach of the team can be awarded the title of honorary citizen by the city government, so even Van Praag, who has left Ajax and only holds the title of honorary chairman, was specially invited to participate.

Accompanied by Eliza, Ye Qiu walked into the venue and immediately became the focus of attention and congratulations from everyone in the audience.

Along the way, people kept reaching out to him and congratulating him, but everyone took the initiative to make way for Ye Qiu to walk to the front. Van Praag and others were here. When they saw Ye Qiu coming, they all came up to greet him.

"Congratulations, Ye Qiu!" Van Praag stretched out his hand from a distance. He also benefited from Ye Qiu's success today.

Now everyone is full of praise for the former chairman, because during his tenure, the team created two brilliant peaks, one during Van Gaal's period, and the other during Ye Qiu's period last season, which was very difficult.

Whether it is the media or the fans, they like to make comparisons. They will compare the differences between Van Gaal and Ye Qiu's two peak periods, and compare who has a greater influence, and the final conclusion is undoubtedly Ye Qiu.

Because Ye Qiu is the only team that has won the Champions League after the expansion and reform of the Champions League that is not from the four major leagues. This is called a miracle by many people, because before the expansion, although the participating teams of the European Champions Cup are all league champions of various countries, their strengths are uneven and the competition is not fierce enough. But after the expansion, the four major leagues basically have three or four teams participating, and the overall competitiveness has been greatly improved. It is very difficult for teams outside the four major leagues to laugh to the end.

But because of this, Ye Qiu led the team to the end, and everyone praised him, because they all knew that this was definitely not based on verbal propaganda, but on real strength.

Because of this, the whole city of Amsterdam is very supportive of the city government's decision to award Ye Qiu the title of Honorary Citizen.

As the name suggests, Honorary Citizen is an honorary award to honor outsiders who have made outstanding contributions to the local area. It has rich and lofty social significance and is an important symbol of the cultural connotation of a city.

For Amsterdam, it is undoubtedly well-deserved to award the title of Honorary Citizen to Ye Qiu, who led Ajax to the second treble in history. Almost all Ajax fans have no objection to this.

"Now you are in the limelight. The media all over the world are hyping your so-called acquisition list!"

After a round of polite greetings, everyone immediately focused their discussion on the hottest topic at the moment, which is undoubtedly Chelsea's madness. In Chelsea's crazy poaching, Ye Qiu is undoubtedly a person at the forefront.

In the past period of time, Ye Qiu's attention has even exceeded Beckham's transfer. The media all over the world are hyping the news about who Ye Qiu wants to poach. Even the slightest clue will be infinitely magnified.

Of course, according to Eliza's news, some people are using Ye Qiu and Chelsea to increase their influence in the transfer market.

Ye Qiu has become accustomed to this. Many times, fans are easily deceived by the media and think that what they see is true. Little do they know that many media news releases may not be dug out by their reporters. Instead, they may be the parties themselves who actively seek to reveal the news, just for publicity and hype.

"No!" Ye Qiu shook his head modestly. His respect for Van Praag will not change. Not only him, but also Bobby Hams, Van Dude, Leo Benhakker and others. Without the help, trust and supervision of these people, it would be difficult for him to get to where he is today.

By the way, with Van Praag's resignation and Ye Qiu's departure, Leo Benhakker also left, so he did not attend today, and Ye Qiu has not contacted him for a long time, and I don't know what he plans to do next.

"But to be honest, I enjoyed watching your poaching, really!" Van Praag laughed, "Those big clubs are eager to divide up our Ajax. You are poaching them like crazy now, which indirectly relieves our pressure."

As European leagues gradually move towards a pyramid-shaped distribution, the four major leagues at the top of the pyramid have become inevitable to suck the blood of those leagues that are not as good as them.

Why is it difficult for teams outside the four major leagues to maintain their competitiveness with the four major leagues for a long time?

The reason is very simple. The bulk of the money and resources are in the four major leagues. They have money, fame and influence. As long as there are enough outstanding rookies in the four major leagues, they will immediately poach them, one for each, two for each, weaken the low-tier leagues, and strengthen their own strength. With this, the four major leagues will be more competitive in European competitions, especially the Champions League, and with competitiveness, there will be higher income, and they will become richer.

This is a virtuous circle for the teams in the four major leagues, especially the big clubs.

But for the lower-tier leagues, their status and role have been defined, which is to generate blood for the teams in the four major leagues and provide them with an endless supply of fresh forces. Can they resist?

Once or half a time is fine, but if you want to stay for a long time? Don't dream!

So, when Ajax reached the semi-finals last year, they rushed to poach players, but in the end Ye Qiu relied on his influence and the cooperation of Ajax management to keep the players. But this year, after winning the Champions League, they will no longer hold back, and they are all crazy about grabbing players.

Barcelona, ​​Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter Milan are all eyeing Ibrahimovic, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, Juventus are all eyeing Lucio, Barcelona and Real Madrid want to pack Robben and Van der Vaart, and a group of outstanding stars such as Kivu, Maicon, Sneijder, Van der Meyde, Kolo Toure are also being eyed by the giants.

Now for Ajax, it is no longer a question of whether to keep players, but a question of how many people can stay.

"The board of directors came to me for discussion and asked for my opinion. I think we should try our best to keep the players, at least some of them, to ensure the team's competitiveness in the Eredivisie and European competitions." Van Praag saw this very clearly.

Ajax does not have the ability or financial resources to keep all of them.

"This is undoubtedly a more compromised solution." Ye Qiu also nodded in support, "And with Ajax's current scout system, I believe they will be able to find a strong supplement soon. With Marco, there will be no problem!"

Van Basten has been in Ye Qiu's coaching team for three years, and he is also a former Ajax star who is deeply loved by fans. In addition, Bobby Hams and Ricklink, two coaches who are familiar with Ye Qiu's tactical system, will assist him. Unless Van Basten wants to completely overturn the system that Ye Qiu has laid for Ajax, his dominance in the Eredivisie should continue.

As for Ajax's scout system, in the three years that Ye Qiu was in power, Ajax invested a lot of money every year to improve this system. As long as the function is properly played, selling players is not a big problem, because they can quickly get effective supplements. On the contrary, Ajax can embark on a virtuous cycle of introducing players at low prices, cultivating them, and selling them at high prices.

There are also disadvantages to doing this, that is, it may be difficult to be competitive in the European arena, but this is the cruelty of reality.

Even if Ajax can meet a sponsor like Abramovich who invests money crazily, it cannot cover up the reality that the competitiveness of the entire Eredivisie league system is much worse than that of the four major leagues, because many things are destined.

"You are praising me here, but you are poaching my people there. Is that reasonable?" Van Basten heard Ye Qiu support him and immediately said to him jokingly.

"Don't use the words 'poaching', it's too hurtful!" Ye Qiu didn't care and said with a smile, "I'm sincere and I haven't treated you unfairly at all. I've brought in Van der Sar and Maicon for 23 million euros. This deal is enough to make you happy!"

Everyone laughed after hearing this, but they had to admit that Ajax didn't lose out by bringing in Van der Sar and Maicon for 23 million euros.

Van der Sar is not young anymore. Although he has maintained a good state in the past two years, who knows how long he can maintain it? And Van der Sar has an ideal natural substitute, that is Stekelenburg, who has been waiting for an opportunity.

After Ye Qiu settled Frans Hoch, he contacted Van der Sar through the latter. Van der Sar's agent is also Eliza, so many transfer issues are no longer a problem. As long as Ajax agrees, personal treatment negotiations and signings can be carried out immediately.

As the saying goes, it is better to use the familiar than the new. Ye Qiu's high-position defensive tactics require a goalkeeper like Van der Sar to take charge. It is not impossible to introduce other goalkeepers. Ye Qiu has also considered, such as Reina or Cech, but he is still a little worried about the running-in problem.

Chelsea has made such a big move this summer, and the fans' expectations can be imagined. Abramovich has high hopes for him. If he cannot show the results that match the investment, Ye Qiu himself feels that it is not acceptable.

So, things in this world are fair, and risks and benefits are always proportional.

As for Maicon, Ye Qiu has scanned the whole of Europe, and there are not many right-backs that meet his definition of an offensive full-back. Lahm can be bought, but this player lacks experience and is short in stature. No one is sure whether he can adapt to the Premier League.

Alves is still relatively immature, and he cannot get a Premier League work permit, so Ye Qiu finally chose Maicon.

Ajax has many right-backs, such as Heitinga and De Jong, who can play this position. If not, Van Basten can bring in another right-back from outside, and I believe the cost is not even a fraction of the transfer of Maicon.

That's why Ye Qiu said that he was sincere enough.

After a round of laughter and conversation, Ye Qiu looked around, looking for his target.

"By the way, I heard that Edgar Davis is here too, why don't I see him?" One of his tasks in Amsterdam this time is to contact the Juventus midfielder.

"Here, over there!" Bobby Hams pointed not far away.

Only then did Ye Qiu notice that there was a person sitting alone not far away, with long hair and dark skin, but compared with the fierce wild boar on the court, Davis now wore a suit, a tie, and took off his iconic glasses. No wonder he couldn't recognize him.

"I'll go over and talk to him!" Ye Qiu apologized with a smile.

Davis had already noticed this side, but Van Praag and others had focused their attention on Ye Qiu, and he was not very familiar with Ye Qiu, so he did not come to join in the fun. In this way, the wild boar The person seems very calm and lonely.

This is also very similar to what he experienced at Juventus.

"Can I sit down and chat for a few words?" Ye Qiu walked up to him and asked with a smile.

Davis raised his head and was a little surprised to see it was Ye Qiu, but nodded and pointed to the side lightly, "Sit down!"

Ye Qiu sat down on a seat across from him and looked at Edgar Davis. He felt that the Dutchman still looked unruly even now. Perhaps, even now, he I still feel that I am on the right side.

Of course, Ye Qiu has always felt that both the players and Lippi were at fault for what happened to Davis. There was no need to blame anyone entirely, but Lippi must have blamed Davis, and Davis must have blamed Li. Skin, humans, aren't they all like this?

"Have you ever thought about changing your environment?" Ye Qiu was very straightforward and straight to the point.

Davis was a little surprised. He didn't expect this person to be so direct. After staring at Ye Qiu, he shook his head and said, "I won't consider leaving Juventus or Serie A for the time being!"

Ye Qiu didn't find this strange at all. Although in the past two or three years, Davis had been rumored to leave Juventus almost all day long, he was actually putting pressure on the club. Back then, Capello Moggi almost agreed to take him to Rome, but in the end the transfer was aborted. Some said Davis refused.

But he didn't go to Roma and stayed at Juventus. He was still not reused by Lippi.

"I heard that Juventus recently recalled Manuel Blasi. Moggi pointed at Blasi at the press conference and said, this is our new Davis!" Ye Qiu did not continue to pester, Instead, he made insinuating remarks.

What he said has been making waves recently. There is news that this is a signal that Juventus wants to sell Davis, because the latter's contract is about to expire, but the renewal issue has never been negotiated. The reason It's simple. The Dutchman wants the club to guarantee the starting position, but Lippi refuses to make such a commitment.

Although Davis played a lot under Lippi, many of them were substitutes. Coupled with the grievances between him and Lippi, it was difficult for the Dutch to accept such a contract extension, so he had to continue negotiations.

Negotiations must put pressure on each other. Moggi's recall of Manuel Brasi, who is on loan in Perugia, is undoubtedly a kind of pressure. Not only that, Juventus is currently also launching an attack on Stephen Appiah of Parma. Offensively, the characteristics of this Ghanaian midfielder are very similar to Davis. When he came to Juventus, it was clear that he wanted to replace the Dutch Wild Boar.

Ye Qiu believes that Davis will not understand the twists and turns here, but he still wants to keep some hope. After all, he has been in Turin for six years and also in Italy. After eight years, if I really want to leave, I will definitely be a little reluctant to leave.

Davis listened to Ye Qiu's words, and a flash of anger flashed in his eyes. He was dissatisfied with Ye Qiu for opening his scar in front of him, and was also very angry at Juventus's actions, because he had played for this team for a long time. After six years of football, he has brought so many honors to this team, but the team treats its heroes like this?

It’s not that people don’t understand many things. For example, Juventus hooked up with Ancelotti in advance before Lippi got out of class. This proves that Moggi’s operation of the team does not allow any emotion to be mixed, and everything is done. It's for profit.

But often some people always feel that they can be a lucky exception!

This is true for lottery players, and so is Davis!

"Chelsea is certainly not as influential as Juventus now, but we are full of fighting spirit and passion. I am not Lippi. I will not resist any player who is full of fighting spirit and passion like you. I will give you the most suitable It gives you a chance to prove yourself again!”

After a pause, Ye Qiu smiled and said: "You know, there is a saying in my motherland, if a tree is moved, it will die if it is moved. It means that if a tree is moved, it will die easily because its roots are damaged. It is restricted there and cannot be moved, but people are different. People have their own thoughts and their own way of survival. Sometimes in difficult situations that are originally difficult to break through, by changing your thinking and changing the environment, you can often solve the problem. The road of death becomes the road of survival!”

"I have always believed that even now, you are still one of the best midfielders in Europe, but that is definitely not to stay on the bench of Juventus. That is not what the strongest midfielder in Europe should do. The best players should prove their strength against the strongest opponents on the best stage where they can best utilize their strengths!”

When he said this, Ye Qiu shrugged, "So, I chose to leave Ajax, give up everything I had finally built in Ajax, go to the Premier League and Chelsea, and compete with top names like Ferguson and Wenger. Handsome competition, for me, this is the best way for me to prove myself.”

Davis still didn't speak, his head was a little lowered, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.

"If I remember correctly, you should be 30 years old, right?" Ye Qiu chuckled twice, "Think about it for yourself, how many more years can you maintain your condition? Do you want to continue to stay at Juventus? You Think about it yourself!”

After saying that, Ye Qiu stood up and walked back to Van Praag and his group, leaving Edgar Davis alone behind him, still with his head down. It was unknown what he was thinking, and it was unknown whether he really listened to what Ye Qiu said.