The Godfather of Football

For Chelsea, the schedule before and after Christmas is undoubtedly suffocatingly dense.

After playing Arsenal, the team flew non-stop to Asia to participate in the Toyota Cup in Japan, and their opponent was a little-known Colombian team Caldas. They were the winners of the South American Libertadores Cup last season. of championship winners.

Because this is the last Toyota Cup, FIFA has announced before the season that starting from 2005, the Toyota Cup will be discontinued and replaced by the Club World Cup, which has been suspended for 5 years. In a multi-round format, even if the Champions League champions come to participate, they must play at least 2 rounds.

This cup competition has come with a mentality of fighting for power and profit from the beginning. It is even called the World Club Cup, and all the teams participating in this cup competition are cup champions from all continents. At first glance, it seems really incredible. , cup champion teams from all continents gather together for one event, how beautiful, how gimmicky and how influential.

But the facts will definitely prove that this is a stupid decision made by a group of guys with heads on their butts, because they did not take into account the uneven strength of the teams on various continents, and only looked at profits.

Just like this Toyota Cup, Chelsea flew all the way from London to Yokohama, Japan. After a lot of effort, Ye Qiu arranged for Ronaldinho, Lampard, and Rooney to sneak up for half the game. The others basically came on the bench, and even Cesc Fabregas started the game. Then the team cleanly defeated this team that they couldn't even name by 3:0.

The final best player of the match went to Davis, which was a reward for the Dutchman. He got a Toyota car, but he didn't have extra time to appreciate his prize because the team's game was over. After that, I flew back to London non-stop, and the whole process took no more than 2 days.

The day after the team returned to Europe, French Football Magazine confirmed the previous rumors, that is, this year's European Ballon d'Or winner is AC Milan's Shevchenko, and Shevchenko even scored more than He defeated Ronaldinho and Lampard and became the new European Ballon d'Or winner.

As soon as this news came out, the entire world of football was surprised, because although the previous rumors seemed to be spreading, everyone felt that it could not be true, so when the final result came out, Everyone was shocked.

Why Shevchenko?

Chelsea won the championship with an undefeated record and won the European Champions Cup and the Premier League. Whether it is in terms of team performance or player performance, Chelsea's Ronaldinho, Lampard, and even Deco are obviously better than Shevchenko. Coe is more qualified to win this award, and if it is compared with goals and performance, Henry's goal data is obviously better.

The British media have questioned the selection of French football. They believe that in terms of statistics and forward goals, Henry is better than Shevchenko. In terms of overall performance on the court, Ronaldinho, Lampard and De Deco is obviously better. Among them, Deco is also the hero of Portugal's European Cup runner-up.

"What did AC Milan have last season? Serie A championship!"

"It turns out that the Serie A champion now has more weight than the Premier League champion and the European Champions Cup champion combined, and more than the European Cup runner-up. It is called the world's number one league, so the future European Ballon d'Or should be renamed the Serie A Ballon d'Or!" "

Some of the more extreme media even directly shouted, "After tonight, the European Golden Globe Awards will become someone's plaything!" This was obviously aimed at the Italian media.

The influential Times made a special report on this. The report pointed out that the most important reason why Shevchenko won the award was because French Football Magazine has obviously lacked the aloofness and independence of the past. Especially under the pressure of FIFA's World Player of the Year selection becoming increasingly influential.

"Shevchenko is undoubtedly superior, but his results are not outstanding. In the past, Ancelotti only used Inzaghi's single forward tactics, and Shevchenko became a substitute, but Berlusco Ni came out and criticized Ancelotti’s formation, thinking that the forwards should be in double figures.”

"In addition, Shevchenko's wife works in Berlusconi's TV station, and their family has an unusually deep relationship with Berlusconi. In the past two years, there have been constant rumors that Chelsea hopes to There were rumors of bringing Shevchenko to London, and there was even definite information that Abramovich had negotiated a deal with Shevchenko, but because Ye Qiu didn't nod, Shevchenko ended up passing away from Chelsea. However, this incident also led to disagreements between Abramovich and Ye Qiu.”

"Berlusconi undoubtedly needs a superstar like Shevchenko, so when he faced Chelsea's strong poaching, in order to retain Shevchenko, he personally made a promise that he would do his best to help Shevchenko win his personal title. Honors and awards, so after the selection was approaching, the mainstream media in Italy began to build momentum for Shevchenko, even going to the extent of sparing no effort, which was unprecedented. "

"In addition, we also have enough accurate information to show that while building momentum for Shevchenko, Berlusconi also personally called Ernault, the editor-in-chief of French Football Magazine, to personally lobby this key player who has the ability to change the selection results. Sexy figure, I hope French Football Magazine will award this year’s European Ballon d’Or to Shevchenko.”

"It turns out that the Ukrainian finally won this award. While we congratulate Shevchenko, we also have to feel regretful, because the French Football Magazine's selection has obviously lost its past authority. In order to survive, they have to accommodate various forces. This is why this year's Golden Ball Award is so lacking in suspense!"

"We also have every reason to believe that if we continue to operate in this way, the Golden Ball Award will sooner or later lose its last bit of influence."

Perhaps because this year's European Golden Ball Award selection is too unpopular, many stars who were interviewed by the media have chosen to remain silent. Even the editor-in-chief of French Football Magazine, Elno, only said in an interview, "Shevchenko performed very well this year. I am not in a position to comment on the selection, but I believe in the fairness of the judges!"

On the contrary, the French team also has its own selection, but they select the best lineup.

Interestingly, in the best team selected by L'Equipe, the goalkeeper is Van der Sar, the defense is Zambrotta, Terry, Cannavaro and Maicon, the midfield is Ronaldinho, Lampard, Makelele and Deco, the forward is Adriano and Henry, and Shevchenko is obviously not among them.

Chelsea became the biggest winner in this best team, because in the 11-man best team list, Chelsea got a total of 8 positions, basically in the midfield and backcourt. Drogba's characteristics on the forward line made him unable to form a comparison with Adriano and Henry.

The best coach fell on Ye Qiu. L'Equipe believes that Ye Qiu was able to lead the team to win the Premier League and the European Champions League with an unbeaten record in the first year of coaching Chelsea. His coaching ability is evident and he deserves the title and title of the best coach of the year.

Also in France, the selection of L'Equipe and French Football Magazine is completely different. This really makes more people begin to doubt the authority of French Football Magazine and think that this year's selection is obviously affected by too much external interference and influence.

Following closely, the British media also seemed to start building momentum for the Premier League teams to win awards. Various media and newspapers have released their own annual best players and lineups. Among them, the most influential one is the British World Football Magazine.

In the World Football Magazine's Best Team selection, Chelsea's Ronaldinho won the first place with 28.6% of the votes. Even Premier League fans think that the Brazilian superstar deserves the title of best player. The second place is Lampard with 22.2%, Henry is closely behind in third place, and Shevchenko is only fifth, even behind Deco.

In the selection of the best coach, Ye Qiu completely crushed Otto the Great Rehhagel with 45.5% of the votes and won the title of the best coach of the year, while Rehhagel and Wenger ranked second and third.

Of course, as long as it is a selection, it is inevitable that there will be controversy.

Many people doubt the selection of World Football Magazine, believing that players and coaches who play and coach in the Premier League are obviously more favored, but many people also believe that the reason for the favor is that Chelsea and Arsenal were the two most dazzling teams in European football last season. They both achieved the unbeaten record of the season, and Chelsea even won the Champions League. Wenger's team almost caught up with Capello's 58 unbeaten games.

"If AC Milan can play 57 unbeaten games, or win the double championship, then we will recognize Shevchenko's status, but before that, he beat Ronaldinho, Lampard, Deco and Henry to win the European Golden Ball Award. Except for Serie A fans, no one will accept it!"

The media of the two countries confronted each other and the war of words directly led to the dispute between the fans of the two countries. The two sides not only bombarded and accused each other in the media, but also directly fought a war of words on the Internet, forming a whirlwind of public opinion in just a few days.

Ye Qiu did not participate in this melee. After returning to London from Japan, he called Ronaldinho to his office after the French Football Magazine announced the results of the selection. He even used self-deprecation to comfort the Brazilian, because he was the second in many people's eyes.

"Look, I haven't won the annual or season best coach recognized by UEFA and FIFA for many years, but I have never given up the pursuit of these two honors. I will take them as my lifelong goal and pursuit, so we have to keep working hard!"

Ronaldinho was not sad. He was optimistic by nature and took it lightly, but he was still very grateful for Ye Qiu's comfort, and laughed at Ye Qiu's self-deprecation.

"Don't worry, boss, I will say a few good words for you when I win the award!"

"Get lost!" Ye Qiu almost kicked him. This was not comforting at all, it was simply gloating!

However, this also made him realize that Ronaldinho was indeed fine, at least not affected by the French football magazine, and the Brazilian seemed to be holding back his anger. When Chelsea welcomed Norwich at home, he scored a hat trick and led Chelsea to a 5-0 victory over the newly promoted Norwich.

Everyone began to be a little numb to Chelsea's outstanding performance. They even felt that Chelsea's victory was not strange, and not winning was news. On the contrary, Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 5-2, which was eye-catching, and Arsenal beat Portsmouth 1-0 away, continuing to maintain a 9-point gap with Chelsea.

After the 18th round of the league, the league was temporarily suspended and will continue to play the 19th round on the 26th. However, Chelsea obviously cannot disband. The team will still gather for training, but the team must make arrangements for the holiday.

"Casino, castle, costume party, bar party, nightclub"

When Ye Qiu looked at the report in his hand, which listed various options for the Christmas parties of past Premier League teams, he was really stunned, because many of these choices surprised him.

"Players are more war-weary during Christmas, so teams generally have to adopt some necessary stimulation methods, but the choices are also different. For example, in 2002 Newcastle's Acuna was caught by the police for drunk driving; in 2001 West Ham defender Dix was photographed peeing in public; Leicester's Wise and Savage fought in public in 2001; Carragher performed with a stripper in 1998..."

Peter Kenyon has been in the Premier League for many years, and he knows all these fun things very well. Not only did he laugh non-stop when he said it, Ye Qiu also couldn't help but smile, feeling that a Christmas party would also be a good idea. It is indeed troublesome enough.

According to the arrangement, the teams still need to train before Christmas, and the teams will participate in the league the day after Christmas. Therefore, in this case, many teams choose not to have a holiday on Christmas and continue to train, and then Host some activities on Christmas night to let the players blow off some steam.

Of course, there are also special ones. For example, Arsenal's Christmas plans are rarely announced to the outside world. Chelsea did not hold Christmas activities last year, so they were not announced to the outside world. It depends on the club's own choice.

"What do you think?" Ye Qiu asked.

Chelsea's current momentum and state are very good, and they need to maintain this momentum and rush through the Christmas holiday in one fell swoop. If the team's state is affected due to the interruption of Christmas, then the Christmas schedule is likely to become Chelsea's nightmare.

When Ye Qiu decided to come to the Premier League, he saw many Premier League coaches talking about the Christmas schedule in the study room. Among them, Chelsea was stuck with the Christmas schedule almost every season in the past, and Manchester United had many Christmas schedules. There is a precedent for a reversal in the previous season, the most famous of which was in 1995 when Newcastle was 10 points behind and finally completed the reversal.

"Team activities have certain benefits. As a rule, they usually have a break in the morning, training in the afternoon, activities in the evening, and preparation for the game the next day. The advantage of this is to prevent players from making some actions that affect their condition during the Christmas period, such as diet. ”

Peter Kenyon's statement is also a concern for most Premier League managers. Christmas can be said to be a paradise for every household. If the players do not have enough self-control and cannot control themselves, they will eat more or drink alcohol. , if it affects the state, then the gains outweigh the losses.

But sometimes managing a team is like this. If you tighten it too much, the players will feel suffocated. There is some resistance in everyone's character. If you blindly adopt urgent management, you will not be able to follow the situation. It is not a good thing to guard against thieves just like guarding against players.

But it’s not okay to be too loose. After all, many people find it difficult to resist temptation, especially at home.

"Why don't we just do this? Our next round will be in London. Let's just invite the players and their families to a Christmas buffet dinner in Cobham. We'll pay attention to the ingredients and drinks. The players' families will be picked up and dropped off at the same time. Arrange a room for them in a hotel near Stamford Bridge and arrange to watch all the Premier League games over Christmas.”

There are two different things between being accompanied by family members and not being accompanied by family members, and buffets are also an activity that Chelsea often engages in. Now everyone has some experience in doing it. Although the trick is not new, it is still better than going to a bar or a casino, right?

Perhaps because he saw Peter Kenyon's somewhat dissatisfied look, after all, this was a bit too common. Ye Qiu thought about it again and smiled: "And I think we can take some activities, such as giving away small gifts and drawing draws. ”

Ye Qiu clearly remembers that when he used to work, there would be some lottery dinners every year. Whether it was the Mid-Autumn Festival cake betting or the New Year lottery, the scene was so lively, and the key to the lottery is that your The gifts shouldn't be too shabby. If they are shabby, the players obviously don't take them to heart. It's not enough.

"Are you asking the club to vomit blood again!" Peter Kenyon shook his head and smiled bitterly. Chelsea's current financial situation is a serious deficit. As the club's CEO, he frowns every day just to settle those deficits.

Frankly speaking, Ye Qiu's spending is not serious. He has always believed in a principle: he must spend what he should spend, and he must not spend what he shouldn't. Therefore, his way of spending money is still very popular with Peter Kenyon. , but now the club is indeed in serious deficit. If you want to draw draws and give gifts, you have to ask Abramovich to pay for it.

"If you don't ask him, I will pay for the raffle and gifts myself. In addition, I have to prepare some prizes. The highest-end ones can be driven into some sports cars and then go down each gear!" Ye Qiu suggested.

The car given out in the lottery is just a car body. According to the current market price, a Mercedes-Benz sports car will only cost tens of thousands of euros. Ye Qiu thinks that after all of this, the lottery gifts will only cost two to three hundred thousand at most. , but it can not only buy the hearts of the players, but also greatly boost the team's morale.

There is a saying that goes, "You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child." If you spend a sum of money now, as long as the team performs well, Ye Qiu's bonus will be more than this little bit. His bonus last season exceeded 10 million euros. He really can't care about such trivial money.

After listening to it, Peter Kenyon thought about it and nodded, "You have already asked for it. I can't be stingy. I will pay a little, but let's make it clear first, I am not as rich as you. I will be responsible for the gifts and you will be responsible for the lottery!"

He still recognized Ye Qiu. Ye Qiu was quite generous. Almost most of the team dinners were prepared by him privately. The cost this year was not small.

Of course, compared with Ye Qiu's amazing salary, it was a drop in the bucket.