The Godfather of Football

In the third warm-up match of the US tour, Tottenham Hotspur defeated AC Milan, who had just traveled a long distance to the United States, 3:1 at the Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, thanks to three goals from Messi, Ribery and Falcao, and won three consecutive wins in the US tour warm-up matches.

And four days later, in New York, Tottenham Hotspur welcomed Barcelona.

The final of the Champions League last season took place in the United States, which attracted 98,000 fans to the scene, most of whom wore Tottenham Hotspur jerseys to show the influence of Tottenham Hotspur in the hearts of American fans.

Tottenham Hotspur did not disappoint this group of fans who supported them. In this highly anticipated game, the team defeated Barcelona 2:0 with Ribery's double goal, completing four consecutive wins in the warm-up matches, and finally ended their first trip to the United States with a perfect record.

The four warm-up matches were 5:0, 6:1, 3:1 and 2:0 respectively. Tottenham Hotspur scored a total of 16 goals and conceded two goals. This report card is indeed amazing and can be said to be impeccable. But more importantly, Tottenham Hotspur has completely opened up the US market with these four warm-up matches and the long-term promotion and preparation in the past.

In these four warm-up matches in the United States, Tottenham Hotspur attracted a total of 340,000 fans to the stadium to watch their games, and broke many attendance records, creating a record that even American baseball clubs cannot achieve. This is called a sign of Tottenham Hotspur's conquest of the United States by many media.

More importantly, this trip to the United States brought Tottenham Hotspur extremely rich income.

Just from the appearance fees of these four games and the additional income during the training camp in Los Angeles, Tottenham Hotspur can directly earn 6 million euros, but that's not all, because during the trip to the United States, Tottenham Hotspur reached cooperation agreements with a total of seven sponsors, including Coca-Cola, Epson and fitness giant iKang, which specializes in sports equipment.

These seven sponsorship projects will bring Tottenham Hotspur at least 15 million euros in revenue in the next year.

If the jersey sales triggered by Tottenham Hotspur's trip to the United States are taken into account, the team can get a considerable share from Adidas, so in general, Tottenham Hotspur has made a lot of money on this trip to the United States, and it can definitely be regarded as a double gain of fame and fortune.

After the trip to the United States, Tottenham Hotspur's summer training camp began to split up. Several young players on loan, including Neymar, Lucas Jr., Coutinho, and Eriksen, left the training team and reported to their respective teams, while Ye Qiu took most of them from New York on a Qatar Airways flight to Qatar.

On the second day after arriving in Qatar, they held a warm-up match with the Qatar national team. In the end, with the goals of Cavani and Kompany, they defeated the Qatar national team 2:1 and continued to maintain their undefeated record in the warm-up match.

After this warm-up match, Tottenham Hotspur was divided into two again. The commercial team led by Peter Kenyon flew directly from Qatar to London, while Ye Qiu took the first team directly to Amsterdam to participate in the Amsterdam Cup Invitational Tournament.

The other two teams in this year's Amsterdam Cup are Sevilla from La Liga and Juventus from Serie A, both of which are powerful teams. After Tottenham Hotspur arrived in Amsterdam after a long journey, they immediately faced two matches and finally defeated Juventus 2:0 and tied Sevilla 3:3.

Although it was one win and one draw, Tottenham Hotspur finally won the Amsterdam Cup Invitational Championship with the points earned from the goals.

After the Amsterdam Cup Invitational, everyone in Tottenham Hotspur returned to London and began to prepare for the final sprint of the new season.

When Tottenham Hotspur was training overseas, European football became very lively.

First, after the Russian super-rich Rebolovlev acquired West Ham United, he made a lot of signings for the Hammers, claiming that he would build a team capable of challenging the North London rivals in the shortest possible time. The Russians also invested more than 100 million euros in one summer, introducing powerful stars including Eto'o, Turan, Lucio, Carvalho, etc. West Ham United's combat effectiveness in the new season should not be underestimated. Many people even believe that this team has the potential to become a dark horse in the new season.

Another important reason why it is so optimistic is that the new head coach of West Ham United is the tinker Ranieri. The strength of this Italian head coach is unquestionable. If it is measured by combining the overall strength of a team and building a strong team foundation, Ranieri is definitely a top player in today's football world.

But many people think that Ranieri is unlucky and always misses the championship.

Another club transaction that has attracted attention from the outside world is Southampton.

After obtaining Ye Qiu's secret financial and human support, it only took Matthew Le Tissier two hours to acquire Southampton from the Trusteeship Committee. The acquisition cost a total of 25 million pounds.

During the North American training camp of Tottenham Hotspur, Le Tissier announced that he would take over Southampton and serve as the chairman of Southampton. The CEO of Southampton was a confidant of Eliza Moon arranged by Ye Qiu, who was mainly responsible for business and team operations. In addition, the head coach of Southampton was the famous Dutch coach Co Adriaense who was currently unemployed.

On the day of the announcement of his inauguration, Le Tissier said that in the new season, the acquisition consortium he formed would continue to invest 15 million pounds, on the one hand to renovate Southampton's youth training camp, and on the other hand to strengthen the team's recruitment for the return to the English Championship in the new season.

At the same time, Le Tissier also announced that Southampton will reach a comprehensive partnership with Tottenham Hotspur. The two sides will carry out all-round cooperation in youth training, youth team exchange competitions, and other aspects, including the introduction of a batch of advanced training equipment from Tottenham Hotspur.

The purpose of introducing Co Adrianse is to adopt a continental tactical style, learn and draw on Tottenham Hotspur's training and technical and tactical concepts. These are all part of Southampton's continentalization journey in Le Tissier's eyes. He firmly believes that in the next few years, he can not only bring Southampton back to the Premier League, but also build a strong Saints.

With the success of the two club transactions, more and more potential transactions have gradually surfaced. For example, the Qatari consortium, which was rumored to acquire Manchester United not long ago, has now turned its attention to Liverpool, which is in conflict between the two major shareholders, and Newcastle, which was relegated to the Championship this season.

Liverpool is the most heavy football giant in the history of English football, which is the most fascinating thing about the Red Army. In addition, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Everton and other four Premier League teams are gathered in one place, forming a strong influence and attention. Therefore, it is reported that the Qatari consortium turned to Liverpool after failing to acquire Manchester United.

Newcastle is also one of the potential acquisition targets of the Qatari consortium. The reason is simple. The Magpies are very cheap now, but at the same time, this team is the most popular team in the UK, and their number of fans is the highest in the UK.

Amid the hype from the outside world that funds and consortiums from all over the world are going to swallow up the Premier League, the Community Shield, known as the Premier League warm-up match, was held at Wembley Stadium in London, and Tottenham Hotspur beat their arch-rival Chelsea 1:0.

As early as the end of last season, when Hiddink decided to leave Chelsea, he once said that he believed that the strength of Chelsea players was not a big problem. What was really worrying was the age structure of this lineup. With so many players over 30 years old, the risk was too great in the long season.

This summer, Pini Zahavi further cleaned up the Chelsea players during Jorge Mendes' period. Carvalho was sent to West Ham United by him. Although he received a considerable transfer fee, Chelsea did not increase investment in signings as Abramovich said. They only introduced Brazilian goalkeeper Cesar from Inter Milan, Zhirkov from CSKA Moscow for 18 million pounds, and young player Sturridge from Manchester City.

It can be said that only the introduction of Cesar was a timely help for Chelsea. It was his outstanding performance in front of the goal in this game that ensured that Chelsea would not be scored more goals by Tottenham Hotspur.

As for Zhirkov and Sturridge's strengthening of Chelsea, at least for the time being, the effect cannot be seen.

As Messi gradually became famous in Tottenham Hotspur, he bought a British luxury villa in a small village in the south of Hertfordshire, not far from Tottenham Hotspur's Theobald training base.

The villa is large, and there is no problem for their family to live in it. However, considering that Rodrigo is about to open an Argentine restaurant in Canary Wharf, Messi bought another apartment in the financial district to support his brother who has a very good relationship with him.

Therefore, this British villa located north of Enfield is currently only occupied by Messi and his parents. Occasionally, his girlfriend Antonella will come from Argentina to stay for a few days, but that's all.

With the arrival of the new season, Ye Qiu's new round of reforms to the team is also continuing.

As early as last season, he had tried many times that the team did not gather the night before the game, which did not cause any trouble to Tottenham Hotspur. So when he was in the United States, Ye Qiu held an internal meeting and asked the players for their opinions. In the end, everyone agreed that they should not gather the night before the game, and everyone should stay at home to rest.

Of course, Ye Qiu also made it clear that this was a trust in the players. If he found that the players had violated the rules, such as doing anything that was detrimental to the next day's game the night before the game, not only would the players be punished, but this rule would also be reconsidered. In other words, whoever made a mistake before the game would be tantamount to offending the public.

In the past, the night before the game, they had to stay in Theobald's dormitory, two people in a room, but now they woke up in their own home, on a familiar and soft bed. Messi felt that this feeling was very different, but if he thought about it carefully, it didn't seem to be different.

Theobald's dormitory was built completely according to the rooms of a five-star hotel. In terms of comfort, there were special people to take care of it, which was more relaxing than home, but he still felt that living at home was better.

Perhaps this kind of good is not physical, but psychological, a kind of trust.

After washing his face, brushing his teeth, and going downstairs, Messi saw his mother busy in the kitchen, while his father was sitting at the dining table reading the newspaper. But every time he saw him like this, Messi felt like laughing, because he knew, My father actually couldn't understand many English words.

Since the last time the transfer to Manchester City broke out, the relationship between Messi and his father Jorge seems to be a bit knotty. They no longer have the harmony they used to have. They always talk with a bit of estrangement, and so does Jorge. He is the kind of father who cares about face. When he saw Messi walking downstairs, he didn't say hello to him. As a father, he simply pretended not to see it.

"Your breakfast, Leo!" Mother placed a breakfast in front of him.

Tottenham Hotspur has hired a professional nutritionist to supervise and guide each player's daily diet. In addition to paying attention to Theobald and the team when playing games, players must also consciously pay attention to their diet at home. .

Just like Messi, he will play in the first round of the Premier League tonight, against visiting Liverpool at home, so he cannot eat meat and some high-fat foods today, and his favorite Argentine barbecue will have to be saved for the game break in the future. Only then can I eat it once a week.

Breakfast is milk, soy milk, cereal, fruit, juice, butter, bread, jam, cheese, ham and yogurt.

There are many and rich varieties, but as a professional player, even though Messi is not tall, he has a big appetite. Breakfast on a small table in front of him is his current task. He must eat them all, because breakfast is very important to a professional player. For the players, it is very important.

According to nutritionists at Tottenham Hotspur, the most important things for breakfast are three things: starchy foods, high-quality protein foods, and vegetables and fruits. They also need to be high in water, rich in variety, and sufficient in quantity. .

Even in many cases, if breakfast is not enough, you have to eat extra.

"The new striker is very popular recently!" Jorge finally couldn't help himself and said while Messi was chewing bread.

Messi's hand stopped for a moment, and he knew that his father was talking about Romedal Falcao, "Well, it's not bad!"

Falcao is said to be the biggest discovery of Tottenham Hotspur's trip to the United States after selling Robin van Persie this season. Since his trip to the United States, his scoring efficiency has always been at a very high level.

"Is he very good?" Jorge asked with some concern. After all, if Falcao is too good, the person who directly threatens him is Messi. After all, his son is now Tottenham Hotspur's number one superstar.

"It's okay!" Messi replied indifferently.

"What do you mean it's okay?" Jorge was a little dissatisfied with his son's attitude.

"The scoring ability is not worse than Robin's, his shooting stability is higher, and his skills are better, but he is an efficient scorer, not a linker. In terms of tactical role, he may not even be as good as Kawa. ”

After saying that, Messi continued to destroy the group of food in front of him, because he had to be fully prepared for tonight's game. After all, this is the opening game of the season.

"But Mr. Ye Qiu seems to trust him very much!" Jorge said a little worriedly. After all, Messi had a transfer in the summer.

Messi shook his head and said with a smile: "It's very simple. If he can score goals, everyone will have ups and downs. Now that he is in good condition, we must trust him more. And we really need someone like this." We have an efficient center. In some tough battles last season, our intimidation and offensive ability in the penalty area were not enough.”

Jorge finally put down the newspaper and tore off his calm disguise, "I'm worried about you. Look at what the media and reporters are saying, saying that this center named Romedal Falcao will become the center forward. Tenham Hotspur's next rising superstar, what do you do if he becomes a superstar?

"If you can believe what the media and reporters say, then that's weird!" Messi chuckled and said nothing more, "Besides, my teammates have become stronger and the competition has become fiercer, which is also very stimulating for me."

"I have inquired about the news before. I heard that Theobald has recently introduced a new training system. I also inquired from Roland that Ye Qiu intends to adjust your development trend. Is it true? He Not letting you continue to score more goals?”

"Dad!" Messi really put down the milk and bread in his hands this time, and looked at his father with a serious face, "I beg you, don't always ask around in the future. I know you care about me, but I Be sensible, I’m twenty-two years old.”

"My boss told me that he didn't want me to develop into a scorer like Romario, who was focused on running off the ball, because that would degrade my skills, not just for me but for Frank as well. There are others, and what we at Tottenham have always insisted on is both with and without the ball.”

"Look at Cristiano Ronaldo, who went to Real Madrid. His physical fitness has improved and his strength has improved, but his long-term running style without the ball has made his skills very stiff. He still can't do it when sprinting at high speed. He can make sudden stops and dunks, change speed and direction, but as long as there is a small space, he will be finished immediately. Therefore, his technique can only be used in counterattacks and will not be effective in positional warfare, because Ferguson's previous setting for him was to completely turn him into a grabbing point. Machine, Terminator.”

"I am shorter and smaller than him. If I continue on the path I took last season, I might become a Romario-style player, who would just walk around and score goals. But no one can guarantee how much tactical role such a role can play in modern football, so the boss wants me to make some adjustments. I think this is for my own good."

Perhaps worried that his father would not believe him, Messi said, "Let me tell you one more thing. The coaching staff of Real Madrid personally called Theobald, Pellegrini and Florentino personally called our boss to understand his previous positioning and training plan for Gareth Bale, because Gareth Bale took the initiative to ask to play on the right after he went to Real Madrid."

"A player needs to go through many levels, many trials and tests from his debut to the peak of success. The reason why I decided to stay in Tottenham Hotspur is because I believe that here, there are the best head coaches and the best coaching staff, who can help me reach a new peak."

"Besides, many times, the value of a player is not determined by the number of goals he scores or whether he is a big name or not!"