The Godfather of Football

"Peter!"

After meeting with Stretford, Ye Qiu called Peter Kenyon who was far away in London.

"I was just about to call you!" Peter Kenyon on the other end of the phone obviously came back from a noisy place to a quiet place to talk to Ye Qiu, "I have mentioned it to the boss, he hopes to do his best to get Rooney."

Ye Qiu was not surprised by this result. For him, there was no problem in buying Rooney. Ribery only played in the professional league for one year. Although he performed very well in the first season, no one was sure whether he could continue the excellent performance of the first season in the second season. Introducing Rooney would provide an extra layer of protection.

The rookie wall is not something that can be said casually. Many players were amazing in the first season, but they gradually declined afterwards.

"I didn't see Rooney, but I saw that vampire-like Stretford!" Ye Qiu shook his head.

Peter Kenyon on the other end of the phone was obviously laughing. "This is a guy that even Ferguson has a headache with. Even the Sun, which is praised by many football people as having no bottom line, uses the titles of gangster, liar and blackmailer to describe this outstanding agent. Think about it yourself."

Ye Qiu couldn't think of any good way to deal with this except for a bitter smile. He was really not good at dealing with these people. If he didn't come to Portugal to watch the game and wanted to meet Rooney by the way, he would never want to see Stretford. Dealing with these guys made his hair white.

"What did Everton say?" Ye Qiu asked.

Peter Kenyon shook his head, "They are obviously using a delaying tactic, because they are sure that Manchester United will definitely make a move, and Rooney will continue to appreciate during the European Cup. If England can win the championship, maybe..."

"Fuck the championship!" Ye Qiu cursed angrily, "If England can win the championship this year, I will twist my head off and let you sit on it. This team obviously lacks the ability to control the midfield. I can't think of any reason why they can win the championship!"

"Ahem, please respect me, I am also English!" Peter Kenyon coughed twice to remind him.

"Sorry!" Ye Qiu also felt that he seemed to have lost his composure. That damn Stretford didn't even let him meet once.

"In fact, although they shouted out a sky-high price of 50 million pounds, in fact, no one believed it, even themselves. I think the most important thing now is to confirm this transfer as soon as possible." Peter Kenyon did not pursue it.

Ye Qiu tutted twice, thought for a while, "Then don't waste time with Everton, just be tough, pay in cash, 35 million euros, kill it instantly!" Sometimes, the negotiation of transfer fees is a tug-of-war, but often the longer you talk, the higher the transfer price.

If Ferguson had finalized Ronaldinho earlier, it would have been a matter of several million euros, and if they had gotten Rooney earlier, it would have been estimated to be around 10 million pounds, but because of the delay, Rooney's price is getting higher and higher now.

Ye Qiu is very clear about Rooney's value. In the past, Manchester United finally got Rooney for about 37 million euros, and it was paid in one year. For Everton, it was actually not very satisfactory, because it was equivalent to an installment payment. After the player was transferred, Manchester United might delay the payment in the future.

So, relatively speaking, if Chelsea directly pays in cash, its competitive advantage is still very obvious.

Moreover, Chelsea now has a Champions League and Premier League title in hand, and is also a hot team to win the Champions League and Premier League again this season. On the other hand, Manchester United, as a traditional giant, did not perform well last season, so in comparison, Chelsea did not suffer at all.

"Still the old rules, get it done before the training camp?" Peter Kenyon has long been familiar with Ye Qiu's habits.

"Yes!" Ye Qiu nodded.

"Well, I'll talk to Everton again and give you an answer as soon as possible!" Peter Kenyon said.

Facts have proved that England did not have the last laugh.

On the second day after Ye Qiu arrived in Portugal, England still stopped at Portugal's feet and was unfortunately eliminated from the European Cup.

Eriksson's team played some very different styles in this European Cup, holding high the banner of offensive football, but it also exposed the defects and shortcomings of England's midfield in controlling the scene.

Although Eriksson's England team seems to be playing very unrestrained now, in fact, it is still difficult to hide his slightly conservative mentality. In the first round of the group match against France, Ten Cate described the situation to Ye Qiu that England played too conservatively after taking the lead and retreated too much, which directly led to the reversal by France.

Of course, England's defensive attention was indeed problematic in the final stage of the goal loss, but it was ultimately caused by the conservative tactical mentality, which gave the players a psychological hint that the game should end as soon as possible and get 3 points as soon as possible.

On the one hand, you have to play offensively, and on the other hand, you play conservatively. It is indeed difficult to have the best of both worlds.

There is another problem. England's midfield seems to be very strong, but in fact there are many problems. Beckham has outstanding long pass dispatch, Sneijder and Lampard have excellent ability to score from behind, and in this game Eriksson dragged Lampard back and intercepted as a defensive midfielder, which obviously exposed the coexistence problem between Lampard and Gerrard.

Rooney's route is actually to retreat to the midfield to help get the ball. Although he looks like a striker, he is actually a front midfielder, and this feature is very good in the group stage, but when Rooney was injured and left the field, England obviously lost control of this point.

Scolari is an old fox and obviously saw through this. So on the one hand, Deco firmly grasped the midfield control and ball possession, and on the other hand, Rui Costa was replaced to further strengthen the control of the midfield, which directly led to Portugal's two goals in a row.

It can be said that at this moment, England was dead. Even though Lampard later equalized the score, England obviously lost its spirit in the penalty shootout, and the goalkeeper problem has always been England's weak point.

Ye Qiu watched this game live. He felt that the reason why Eriksson lost was that he actually made two fatal mistakes, one in the long term and the other in the short term.

The so-called long-term is that he did not formulate a complete offensive routine for England, which was too monotonous. This was the problem of England's weak offensive after playing offensive football. Goals often do not represent anything. Multi-routine ball advancement is the core of real offensive football, and Eriksson, a head coach who is good at defense, obviously did not handle this.

The short-term problem is that after scoring the lead in the game, Rooney was injured and left the field. Eriksson let the midfield retreat to the front of the penalty area early, giving up all his 30-meter area to the opponent. Portugal's ball control was basically carried out in this area.

The core and key part of defense is the 30-meter area, because when controlling the ball within 30 meters, every pass from the opponent may become the final pass, and may create a killing opportunity. Even though Portugal's chances of creating killing opportunities are not outstanding most of the time, Scolari immediately replaced the most lethal passer, Rui Costa.

This is a logical result. I have completed the control of the ball in the 30-meter area, but there are not many opportunities to create, so I have to replace a player who is good at passing the fatal pass in this area.

The mystery and fun of tactics lies in that any head coach not only needs to have a long-term strategic vision, but also needs to have on-the-spot response and quick wit in the face of the current predicament.

After watching the England game, Ye Qiu couldn't help but reflect on the tactics of Chelsea this season that he had been brewing in his heart for a long time. He also felt more and more that Rooney might be a very good candidate on the right side, who could form a strong competitiveness with Ribery and urge the French to continue to improve.

How to say it?

Ye Qiu is going to play 4231 this season, but in fact it cannot be said to be 4231, because he wants the two left and right wingers to attack the opponent's defensive junction more, that is, the two ribs, because Drogba is in front to contain and suppress the opponent's two central defenders. In this way, unless the opponent is willing to use two defensive midfielders to defend, otherwise, there will always be a flaw on one side of the two ribs.

And Ye Qiu's tactics are to use Ronaldinho, Ribery or Rooney, who have super personal abilities and are very good at single combat, to attack the opponent's two ribs, and tear open the defense line through the response between the two rib attacking players.

Ronaldinho is very good at dribbling inside on the left rib, and after breaking through, he passes diagonally to find teammates on the right rib. This is also a set of offensive routines that Chelsea is very good at last season. If the right rib is added this season, it will inevitably bring a more painful blow to the opponent, and Chelsea's offense will also have a leap forward.

However, Ye Qiu also has balance considerations, so Lampard and Drogba are very important at the tactical level. They are the first link of the team's defensive system. With Ribery or Rooney who is willing to fight, Chelsea's overall pressure in the midfield and frontcourt may decline compared to last season, but the offensive power will be greatly improved.

Ye Qiu's tactics last season were to seek stability, so he used the combination of Davis and Makelele, but this season his team has been run-in and formed. If he wants to improve and go further, he must take one, almost certainly Davis.

With Chelsea's current huge lineup and bench depth, and such rich offensive routines, as long as the team's entire offensive and defensive system is run-in and formed, Ye Qiu is fully confident that he can defeat all opponents again.

Of course, this is also affected by various factors such as player injuries and the degree of adaptation after tactical adjustments.

But Ye Qiu is now ambitious and wants to rely on this lineup and tactics to reach the top of Europe for the third time!

The final result of the European Cup was not too surprising. Just like Ye Qiu's previous life, Rehhagel's Greece unexpectedly defeated all opponents and won the first European Cup championship in Greece's history, performing a dark horse miracle that was even darker than Denmark's that year, and won the admiration of the whole world.

Otto the Great Rehhagel, the German coach who led Kaiserslautern to create the miracle of a newly promoted team winning the championship, now once again led the Greeks to create a mythical miracle with a watertight overall defense and iron-clad tactical discipline.

This was something that no one could have imagined before the game, and after the game, everyone became very interested in Rehhagel's Greece. Many people began to discover that Rehhagel's tactics, to some extent, had a lot in common with Ye Qiu, and even Rehhagel himself admitted that he did get some inspiration from Ye Qiu's Ajax and Chelsea.

The German coach's sincere explanation to the media made Ye Qiu feel ashamed, because he was still studying Rehhagel's overall football philosophy through the Godfather training system's learning house, but he didn't expect that Rehhagel would learn from him in turn. Who is the cause and who is the result?

However, almost all media believe that Ye Qiu is the cause.

The reason is simple. Almost all media believe that the Champions League is gradually becoming a weather vane for world football tactics, and Ye Qiu, who has led the team to the top of Europe in the past two years, undoubtedly represents the weather vane.

Holistic football, meticulous teamwork, and a defensive system from front to back are the foundations of Ye Qiu's tactics, and they have all been verified in Rehhagel. Therefore, when the European Cup ended, for a time, when the world discussed football, it was necessary to talk about Ye Qiu, Rehhagel, and overall football.

In the best lineup of the European Cup, Chelsea, the new European champion, encountered embarrassment and doubts, because they only had Lampard selected, while Manchester United had Cristiano Ronaldo and Van Nistelrooy, Liverpool had Baros selected, and Arsenal was even more embarrassed, with no one shortlisted for the best lineup.

However, this list obviously does not explain the problem. For example, the best goalkeepers are Czech Cech and Greek Nikopolidis, but in fact, if you look at it as a whole, Isaksson from Sweden is the most stable goalkeeper. The 22-year-old goalkeeper currently playing in the Swedish Super League has attracted the attention of many top European league teams.

With the end of the European Cup, the transfer wars in the four major European leagues have also become intense. The major giants have also sounded the horn to snatch the stars who performed well in the European Cup, including several popular players such as Baros and Rooney.

The first to ignite the Premier League transfer wave was Newcastle. The Magpies announced the introduction of Kluivert from Barcelona. This transfer is obviously aimed at strengthening the team's front line, while Arsenal announced the introduction of midfielder Flamini from Marseille, but let go of striker Kanu, who went to West Bromwich.

Wenger's transfer strategy is obviously to further reform the team's youth, and Manchester United has the same idea.

Ferguson announced the introduction of young player Gerard Pique from Barcelona, ​​and then introduced the talented striker Rossi from Serie A Parma. This talented striker who scored 133 goals in 114 games for the Parma youth team was hailed as the new Paolo Rossi of Italy, and his performance in the Italian national team at all levels is also very eye-catching.

In addition, the relegated Leeds United has become the target of division among the major Premier League teams. Players in this team, including Alan Smith, Viduka and other famous players, have been poached and seduced by major teams such as Manchester United.

There is a saying that goes, when the wall falls, everyone pushes it, and when the drum is broken, everyone beats it. Even the relegated West Ham United can't escape the bad luck. The main midfielder Michael Carrick transferred to Tottenham Hotspur in north London.

Liverpool also made a big move. With the dismissal of the famous coach Houllier, Rafael Benítez from Valencia took charge of Anfield Stadium. His arrival also made Liverpool panic. Golden boy Owen may transfer to Real Madrid, and Daniel Murphy will also join another team. The arrival of Benítez also made Liverpool's signings tend to Spain. Players including Aimar and Luis Garcia have been linked to the Reds one after another.

While major Premier League rivals have all sounded the horn of the arms race, Chelsea's signings have not made much progress. Ye Qiu returned to London after the European Cup. The media also knew that Ye Qiu had returned, but Chelsea did not make much progress. So far, it has only announced that it has rejected Paris Saint-Germain's proposal to buy out Michael Essien and recalled the Ghanaian midfielder.

Ye Qiu commented on the news of Michael Essien's return on the official website, saying that Michael Essien will become an important member of the team and that he has enough strength and potential to compete for a place in Chelsea's midfield.

At the same time, the media broke the news in the transfer market that Chelsea has made a transfer offer of up to 35 million euros for Everton's golden boy Wayne Rooney. If Everton agrees, Rooney will become the youngest player with the most expensive transfer fee after Saviola.

This piece of news quickly attracted the attention of the world, because all fans are paying attention to whether Chelsea will continue to make big signings this summer like last season, and whether Rooney will be one of them?

Ye Qiu said in an interview with The Times that Chelsea would no longer blindly make big signings, but would only strengthen the team's weak positions in a targeted manner.

"We have a group of very outstanding players and a group of talented potential rookies. I don't think we need to continue to make big signings, so all the news about Chelsea bringing in more superstars is groundless!"

Ye Qiu's statement also put an end to the rumors that Chelsea would bring in superstars including Shevchenko.

And he knew very well that this news must have been leaked by Everton or Rooney's agent. The meaning was also very clear, that is, to attract as many potential buyers as possible. Ye Qiu's response strategy was to deny it and keep his hands off.

With Chelsea's denial, many people thought that this was Everton's unilateral hype, and the price of 35 million euros was indeed expensive. You know how much Beckham and Owen cost? Rooney alone costs 35 million?

Manchester United seemed to be affected and continued to keep their hands off, using the introduction of Rossi and Alan Smith to create pressure.

Ferguson also knew very well that Rooney's heavy transfer would not be done overnight, and it would definitely be a long battle, so he was not in a hurry, but instead focused on the left-back he had always wanted to strengthen.

But at this time, Chelsea suddenly held a press conference to announce the transfer results and said that the summer transfer door was closed!