The Godfather of Football

There were times when Ye Qiu would think about a problem from the perspective of a club operator, that is, why, among so many European giants, there are so few teams that can truly maintain stable performance and influence for a long time. ?

Just like Real Madrid, Florentino was very prosperous in the early days, but in the later period of Galacticos, it fell apart, and Calderon's coming to power caused Real Madrid's brand value to drop to a pitiful level. Why is this?

Also, like Inter Milan, the whole world knows about Inter Milan's situation, but why does Moratti seem to have no intention of introspection? Why does he always make the same mistake again and again? Or does he not feel that he did anything wrong at all?

Looking back on it, Manchester United has maintained a strong competitiveness for a long time in the past, whether in the Premier League or in Europe. Among them, although Ferguson has also made many mistakes, he has always been very competitive. On the whole, it has been relatively stable, and the team's overall strength and finances have not been greatly affected.

There is also a very important example, Bayern Munich.

This team is one of the teams with the best business development capabilities among all the giant teams in Europe, even comparable to Manchester United.

Many people may think that Bayern Munich has been in recession in the past few years, but it should also be noted that this is actually dragged down by the domestic league, especially after the bankruptcy of the Bundesliga's top sponsor Kirsch Media Group at the beginning of the century. It not only affected the World Cup in Korea and Japan, but also completely broke a series of bubbles in the Bundesliga.

The few years around the turn of this century were the glorious period of the Bundesliga. At that time, the Bundesliga even overshadowed La Liga. From Dortmund to Bayern Munich, and then to Bayer Leverkusen, there is no doubt that the Bundesliga is crazy, and it is precisely in Kiel. After the bankruptcy of the German Bundesliga Group, the Bundesliga broadcasting was completely in trouble, causing almost all Bundesliga teams to be in financial difficulties.

Coupled with the shortage of German football talents, these two major pressures have forced the Bundesliga to transform, and Bayern Munich has done the best transformation among all Bundesliga teams. Although they lack combat effectiveness in Europe, overall, whether they are from The quality of the players and the financial health of the team are among the best in Europe.

If you analyze these two teams carefully, it is not difficult to find one thing in common, centralized distribution of power, and policy continuity.

At Manchester United, Ferguson was in charge of athletics. This was Manchester United's core policy. Previously it was Eduardo, then Peter Kenyon, and then David Gill. No matter who became the CEO of Manchester United, Ferguson would not be shaken. position, all regard competition as the team's top priority.

Even if the Glazer family later wanted to acquire Manchester United, they had to convince Ferguson first and promise to ensure competitive interests before it could succeed. On the basis of ensuring competitive interests, the team maximized its commercial operations, so Manchester United can be said to be in business and competitive situations. One of the best and most ideal teams that combines both aspects.

The same is true for Bayern Munich. The troika headed by Beckenbauer are all football celebrities, but they have received professional training because they understand football, and after training, they have the ability to develop business. In addition, these three The coach has been the main power of Bayern Munich for a long time, so some of Bayern Munich's important policies have not changed over the years.

Everything has two sides, just like power. Many people say that the three powers should be separated. Chelsea also implemented the separation of powers, but many times it has been proved that the powers are too dispersed. It seems to be mutual checks and balances, and it seems to be harmonious, but in fact it is not. It may not be advanced, but a great man once said that democracy is the most inefficient thing in the world.

But too much concentration of power is not good. Just like Florentino’s Real Madrid and Moratti’s Inter Milan, they are all caused by too much concentration of power. It can easily be caused by the preferences of the person who has the power. , some shortcomings and problems have led the team astray and caused problems in team management.

Therefore, Ye Qiucai feels that centralized distribution is the best, just like Manchester United and Bayern Munich, which are concentrated in the hands of a few people. Through consultation and communication, they can formulate the team's development direction, and then persist in it.

At Tottenham Hotspur, Ye Qiu also promoted the centralized distribution of power. As the head coach, he hardly interfered in the business field. Peter Kenyon and Ron Gurley also knew very well. Tottenham Hotspur's most important core foundation is still competitiveness, or the team's performance and combat effectiveness.

When both parties clearly divide their powers and reach consensus on some aspects, the overall operation of the team will become very harmonious, and everyone in the team will feel very comfortable, and at least it will appear calm on the surface. .

And when Ye Qiu met the current Ajax chairman John Jacques at the Golden Slender Man at the Arena Stadium, a Chinese restaurant he had not been to for a long time, he once again clearly realized that sometimes power Excessive concentration is really not a good thing.

In Ye Qiu's impression, John Jacques has never been an ambitious person. Compared with Ye Qiu's good friend Fan Praag, he lacks enough personal charm and majesty. He is tall, but a bit She is thin and not very young, but she looks fair and elegant.

Seeing him, Ye Qiu thought of his old friend Van Praag. He was now very happy in the Dutch Football Association, holding the title of honorary president of Ajax, but he didn't do anything. This guy was free and easy now. .

Didn’t Ajax’s glory days in the 1990s come from the strong Van Praag and the equally strong Van Gaal? And doesn’t this prove another example of Ye Qiu’s so-called centralized power distribution?

But Ye Qiu himself is also very clear that the Dutch economy is not very good. There are many fans, but they are limited. The entire market is so big, and it is difficult to support so many Dutch teams, especially after the European debt crisis, the operation of the Dutch team is even more unbearable.

Ajax changed its chest advertisement this year, and the sponsorship fee increased from 7 million to 12 million euros. However, this amount of money is only at a medium level in the Premier League, but it is already very high in the Netherlands. Ajax’s total annual income is only about 70 million euros, which is still the first in the Netherlands, about 20 million euros higher than PSV Eindhoven.

With the increase in player salaries in recent years, Ajax's situation has become increasingly difficult. The profits and players brought by Ye Qiu's winning of the treble have now been almost squandered, because the current situation forces Ajax to rely on selling players to survive, but this summer they wanted to sell Huntelaar, but did not receive much response.

Over the years, the team's management has become increasingly difficult, and the scouting system that Ajax used to be proud of has become increasingly difficult to maintain. First of all, it is because of the high risk of youth training, large investment but disproportionate output, and also that Ajax alone cannot maintain such a large scouting system.

Just like Sevilla, which has been in the limelight in recent years, don't look at them now. It seems so great. As long as their team's performance declines and their income declines, the scouting system will be streamlined immediately. At that time, it will be like Ajax, and it will be a vicious cycle.

This is also the reason why Ye Qiu attaches so much importance to the Football Economic Forum and the player database. When even a team like Ajax does not have enough financial resources to maintain a large scout system, there must be other ways to help these teams tap talents. The Football Economic Forum and the player database play such a role.

Of course, there is another option before Ajax now, which is to cooperate with Tottenham Hotspur in all aspects.

Ye Qiu's Tottenham Hotspur is rich and powerful. It invests a lot of money in the scout network every year. It is fully capable of integrating Ajax's scout system and sharing resources. As the parent team, Tottenham Hotspur can arrange young and potential players to Ajax for training at any time, and has the priority purchase right of Ajax players.

Ajax is not desperate yet, they still have options, but they have tasted the sweetness of cooperation with Ye Qiu and Eliza in the past few years. Let's not talk about the four players Ye Qiu put in Ajax at the beginning, just say that Di Maria and Alexis Sanchez, who were abandoned in order to introduce Thiago Silva and the other four players, are now worth a lot of money.

Previously, Ye Qiu recommended Suarez through Bobby Hams, and Ajax introduced him for 800,000 euros. Now his value exceeds 10 million. The team does not know how much profit it has made, and all these make Ajax clearly see the future prospects of cooperation with Ye Qiu and Tottenham Hotspur.

Of course, both parties will not disclose such cooperation to the outside world. They will only say that Tottenham Hotspur and Ajax will carry out comprehensive cooperation in youth training, and the specific details will not be disclosed to the outside world.

"I believe that our cooperation will be very pleasant!"

At Jin Shouzi, Ye Qiu used a dinner he had just arrived in the Netherlands to settle John Jacques. The two sides agreed to cooperate in all aspects, and it is almost certain that from now on, Ajax will become a satellite club of Tottenham Hotspur and an important base for Tottenham Hotspur's future talent selection.

As a celebrity who once brought great glory to Ajax, when John Jacques asked Ye Qiu about the new head coach after Van Basten left the team, Ye Qiu recommended the former Ajax star Michel Laudrup who left Getafe this summer. He believed that the Dane would be a very good head coach candidate for Ajax, and this was also in line with Ajax's tradition of only inviting its former stars to serve as head coaches.

After seeing off John Jacques, Ye Qiu also put aside a major matter in his mind. The two sides agreed to announce the cooperation at the press conference of the opening match of the Amsterdam Cup two days later. As for whether Michael Laudrup can successfully take charge of Ajax, Ye Qiu did not know.

After seeing off John Jacques, Ye Qiu had dinner with a group of old friends including Van Dude, Ricklink, Bobby Harms, etc. at Jin Shouzi. Not long after, Van Praag also came. It was rare for a group of people to get together and have a delicious meal. During the meal, Van Praag and Bobby Harms and others also mentioned Huang Chu, saying that they missed Huang Chu's cooking skills.

"This cooperation is also good for Ajax!" Van Praag had known about Ye Qiu's cooperation with Ajax for a long time. This was no secret to them, and it was also good for Ajax.

If Ajax wants to continue operating, the most important thing is to ensure the team's income. The team's main source of income is on the one hand games and entering the Champions League, which requires results and players. High-level players often mean high salaries, which is too much for Ajax at present, so they have to promote young players who are both good and cheap. Therefore, the scout system is very important.

Another is high transfer income. In the same way, young players with good quality and low price are sold at high prices after they become famous in Ajax, and the club earns a high difference in the middle. This is the business model of Ajax after transformation.

"At the beginning, I heard that you wanted to buy a team, and I was scared to think you wanted to buy Ajax!" Van Praag laughed, "But now it has been proved that if you really buy Ajax, there is no future either." In this regard, the former chairman of Ajax can only sigh and regret, because he saw the decline of the Eredivisie from Ajax.

The Eredivisie will not represent Dutch football, because high-level players will go abroad to play, but the Eredivisie will hardly be competitive, especially compared with the top leagues with rich financial resources such as the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A.

Ye Qiu had never considered the Eredivisie at first, and he just smiled after hearing this, "Our current scout network has been spread out in South America and Africa. After the cooperation, we will integrate all scout resources, and we will arrange for several players to come to Ajax to play."

Now if you want good quality and low price, you still have to look for it in South America, Africa and Eastern Europe, so Ye Qiu found several South American players through an agent company and bought their ownership. One is Ramirez who plays for Cruzeiro, and his value is about 1 million euros. The other is Sandro, the midfielder who plays for Internacional Brazil, who is cheaper.

The other two are Hulk who plays for Japan, and Romedal Falcao who plays for River Plate in Argentina.

In Ye Qiu's view, if Ajax wants to ensure its operation, it must learn the way of Porto and Lyon. The operation of these two teams is simply the benchmark for all mid- and lower-level European teams. They earn the difference by buying low and selling high, and guarantee the team's performance. They are still living quite comfortably, which is indeed quite difficult.

Each team is like a different person, each with their own way of living, but they all have only one goal, which is to live better.

At present, in addition to Ajax, Tottenham Hotspur has basically settled Santos in Brazil. This team will cooperate with Tottenham Hotspur and become Tottenham Hotspur's partner in Brazil. In addition, the agency has bought out the ownership of Lucas Jr. in Sao Paulo, which is also quite cheap, and sent the player to Santos.

These players can be selected by Ajax at that time, and the rest will either stay in Brazil or be sent to other European clubs. Now the agency has established very extensive connections in Europe, and it is not difficult to help a player enter a European professional club. It is easy.

In the future, Tottenham Hotspur will continue to further expand its partner network, not only to cooperate with them in youth training, but also to ensure that they can get high-level players with good quality and low prices anytime and anywhere, which is also what all the top teams are doing.

Manchester United has more than a dozen satellite clubs, including well-known teams such as Sporting Lisbon, Nantes, Sao Paulo, and Fluminense. Manchester United also cooperates with them through youth training plus the right of first refusal to buy players, or by sending some of its favorite players to them for training.

There are many similar situations, such as Arsenal, AC Milan, Inter Milan, etc. Almost all giants have satellite clubs, and there are different roles in these satellite clubs, such as training young players, and overseas market promotion.

But the world of football is very strange. Compared with Tottenham Hotspur and Ajax, or even the match with Inter Milan, the two teams have established a partnership, which seems worthless in the eyes of the media, because it has no meaning of publicity and hype at all, and it is not as gimmicky as Ye Qiu's battle with Mourinho.

In the opening match of the Amsterdam Cup, Tottenham Hotspur defeated the host Ajax 3:1.

As Bobby Hams said before, the current Ajax is indeed not very competitive. After selling players one after another, the quality of the players has not been effectively supplemented, which has affected Ajax's overall combat effectiveness.

Inter Milan tied Sevilla 0:0. Mourinho's team did not show a dazzling level in this warm-up match, and Inter Milan's slump continued to the second round of the next day, losing to Tottenham Hotspur 0:2 in the game.

Ye Qiu's team performed well in the pre-season warm-up match. Even after many players including Messi left the team, they still defeated Inter Milan and Ajax, two strong teams, in the Amsterdam Cup, and the team's overall strength was also recognized by the outside world.

This summer, the team played a total of seven warm-up matches, all of which were won, which also made the outside world satisfied with Tottenham Hotspur's performance, believing that this is the performance that the defending champion of the Champions League should have.

In the Amsterdam Cup, Yaya Toure was pulled back to the central defender position and performed quite well. He had a good understanding with Thiago Silva, and his ability to hold the ball was indeed satisfying. Many media and reporters even believed that Ye Qiu should transform him into a central defender.

Ye Qiu believed that upon hearing this news, Yaya Toure was even sadder than him, because if the Ivorian was really allowed to play as a central defender, he might become a central defender who loves attacking and forward runs even more than Lucio. What would happen to the back line at that time? Would someone have to clean up his mess?

Thinking of this, Ye Qiu thought, forget it!

After the team returned to London from Amsterdam, they returned to Theobald to rest and prepare for the upcoming Community Shield with all their heart, and the opponent happened to be Manchester United, the opponent in the Champions League final.

However, the Red Devils' recent situation does not seem to be very optimistic!