The Godfather of Football

Gabriel Marcoti is a well-known football commentary columnist in Italy, but he occasionally writes articles for the British media and comments on major and minor matters in European football. However, he is most famous for his cooperation with the bald head coach Vialli. I wrote a very interesting book about football, [Mission in Italy].

This book is actually about two different football countries, England and Italy.

For example, Vialli said that football is like love, but in Britain and Italy, love is also completely different, like two equally lovely but completely different women.

One is called Mary. She is loyal, frank and cheerful. She may not be naturally beautiful, but she can give everything for you. Sometimes you think she should go for a beauty treatment or lose some fat, and sometimes you think she is too simple and plain, but when you are at your lowest and helpless, she will become your patron saint.

One is called Veronica, she is shrewd, proud, and passionate. She is extremely beautiful, and she understands this very well, and is also very good at taking advantage of it. She will not give you too much every time, so you will If you are in love, even though you may feel insecure, you will yearn for her extremely, and you may even be angry that she flirts with other men in front of you. You are very angry, but so what? You can't help but want her, even though you can never predict what she'll bring to you next.

Vialli also said that if the tragedy of Leeds United's relegation happened in Italy, what would appear at Elland Road would not be the common sorrow and frustration of 40,000 fans, but a riot, a beating with riot police, and finally forcing Players, coaches and presidents were reduced to wearing body armor and slipping through tunnels.

There is no doubt that Vialli's coaching career may not have been successful, but he is indeed a very talented football person.

In this book "Italian Mission" written in 2006, a lot of space is devoted to some insider information that others are not familiar with. For example, he once devoted a large space to introducing why Ye Qiu wanted to acquire Tote. Naham Hotspur, and he believed that this was where Ye Qiu was the smartest and what many outsiders cared least about.

"In the early years, the relationship between the media and football clubs was very simple. The media wanted to use the club's stardom to increase circulation, and the clubs were happy for the media to do free advertising for themselves. But gradually, as the media's influence became more and more The relationship between the two began to tilt."

"But in the information age, the relationship between the media and the teams has begun to change. The relationship has become reversed. Many big teams like Manchester United and Arsenal do not need to look at the media's face to act, because they all have their own promotion media, but these traditional media have no way of losing them.”

"It's very simple. A certain star can smoke a cigarette or urinate, and the media can report it for several days!"

"When the Premier League changed from the original two teams to the top four, the newspapers and TV stations in Manchester, Liverpool and London were completely crazy. The competition between them became more and more intense. Everyone hoped to grab the front page headlines, but the front page headlines Many times it will offend the club, so how can we grab the headlines without affecting the team? "

"Of course, you have to build a good relationship and have a thigh that can't be thicker. Moreover, many teams and big-name players are also happy to let certain famous pens support them. After all, pens are still very important at critical moments. useful."

"Having said so much, in fact, one of the key points I want to elaborate on is that the relationship between the media and the club is complicated, and there are even many grievances and resentments in it. It is like you will never see Ferguson being interviewed by BBC TV, even if It was after the game because the BBC had filmed a documentary that revealed the inside story of Ferguson’s son enriching himself as an agent.”

"Also, you never see Ferguson being interviewed by the Manchester City Evening News because that newspaper is a sworn enemy of Manchester United, and do you know why the Sun defended Ferdinand so hard after he missed a drug test? Because that's why Liverpool’s rival newspaper had the best relationship with Manchester United, so they got exclusive headlines about Beckham’s transfer that year!”

"Back to the serious topic, in London, more than 90% of taxi drivers are Tottenham Hotspur fans, so when you hail a taxi in London, if you can introduce a few Tottenham Hotspur stars, Congratulations, you may be able to save a few dollars in fares; and in the London media industry, about 90% of reporters are fans of Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United, with the former accounting for the majority. ratio, but the latter has one who is known as the most famous football reporter in England.”

"Martin Samuel of The Times was a former West Ham United stalwart. He was best friends with Chelsea's Frank Lampard as early as the West Ham United days, and later became close friends with John Terry and others, but the most important thing is It was also the relationship between him and Ye Qiu. It was he who introduced Ye Qiu to the world of British media. After Ye Qiu joined Tottenham Hotspur, he seemed to have the intention of switching to Tottenham Hotspur. sign."

"Martin Samuel's sworn enemy is Gerrard's loyal fan, Henry Winter, the Daily Telegraph's number one commentator, who, along with Alan Hansen, makes up the Daily Telegraph's Reds fans line-up, and there's another Even more thorough than them is Evans, a reporter from the Liverpool Echo, and he and his team are even more crazy Reds fans."

"Arsenal also has its own world, and that is the Independent. The sports department of this newspaper is all Arsenal fans. There was even a message at the beginning that when I heard that the sports department of the Independent was recruiting people, wasn't it? Arsenal fans didn’t even come to the interview, so you can imagine how loyal they are.”

"Many people think that Ye Qiu acquired Tottenham Hotspur because the latter is in London and has good results. In fact, these are not the point. The real point is that Tottenham Hotspur has the largest capital in London. And scarcity is also some of the conditions that a football club must have for the rise of a football club.”

"Many people are wondering why you can see Tottenham Hotspur news every day in newspapers such as The Guardian, The Times, and the Daily Mail, and why some Tottenham Hotspur players have transferred. Headlines, they can all get the news earlier than others?”

"This is the real purpose of Ye Qiu's acquisition of Tottenham Hotspur, because he has planned all this behind the scenes!"

"So, we saw that after Ye Qiu acquired Tottenham Hotspur, he gave his first exclusive interview to Martin Samuel. The most important forward-looking interview before every season is basically from The Guardian, The Times and the Daily Mail, the Daily Mail is Martin Samuel’s old employer, and through this relationship, they have embraced Ye Qiu’s thick thighs.”

"So, this is the core reason why Ye Qiu acquired Tottenham Hotspur!"

"The role of the media has actually been ignored by many people. It is not only in publicity and promotion, but also has a huge contribution and role in shaping stars, just like Martin Samuel has always been for Lanzhou in the past. Pad publicity, and when Terry made a fool of himself in the World Cup, they used the pen in their hands to describe his foolhardiness as the embodiment of the English Bulldog spirit, and then turned the originally unfavorable factors into favorable factors. "

"In the star-making project pursued by all clubs, the media will always be an indispensable and important part!"

This is Vialli’s last description. In fact, although Vialli’s remarks are somewhat biased, for example, Ye Qiu’s acquisition of Tottenham Hotspur is definitely not just because of the team’s influence and appeal in London. But in fact many of his views are correct, and they all hit the point.

However, in this book written at the end of 2006, Vialli did not foresee Ye Qiu’s other big move, which was to spend a lot of money to recruit Robert Milson, a figure who had worked in almost every major newspaper in the UK. And it was Robert Milson's crisis public relations time and again that made Tottenham Hotspur's star-making project go very smoothly.

Why can Falcao go from 5 million euros to 70 million euros in one season?

Does it just rely on fifty goals in that season?

Don't be stupid, there are many people in the world who have scored more goals than him in a single season, but why don't they have such a huge increase in value? The reason is simple. Falcao appears in newspapers almost every day. When he scores a goal, the media immediately praise him. If he doesn't score, it doesn't matter. The media immediately gives him other aspects of publicity and hype, such as amplifying his performance in the game. A certain pass, or a certain shot, etc.

It’s not just Falcao, Tottenham Hotspur can appear in the newspapers every day, relying on the all-round publicity and promotion of the team. This is the reason why Tottenham Hotspur’s value has soared in the past few years, and its income An important reason for the surge.

These are the rules of the game in professional football. If you can't adapt to it, you will definitely be eliminated!

Because of this, Ye Qiu has always paid attention to cooperation with the media. Even though he is now worth a hundred times and does not need to act based on the media's face, he is still the same as before. As Vialli said, Before every season, he will be interviewed by reporters from The Guardian and The Times.

And every time, the Times only had one person who could face Ye Qiu, and that was the old fat man Vialli called, Martin Samuel. The Guardian was able to get a pre-season interview because of Sean Ingle. , a rising star in the British media industry, the fastest rising star in the past two or three years.

The reason why Ye Qiu did this was because these people had helped him when he was in decline or on his way to success, and he had always believed in a principle, that is, do not forget those who have given you Help people.

But every time he saw Martin Samuel, Ye Qiu would think of the image Vialli described when he mentioned him.

A fat old man with a drywall on his arm!

Coupled with the image of Martin Samuel, it is indeed very funny, making Ye Qiu want to laugh every time he thinks about it.

Martin Samuel had heard Ye Qiu mention it, and he had also read Vialli's book, so every time he saw Ye Qiu smiling, Martin Samuel would retaliate, or deliberately ask some very sharp and difficult questions. Or write an article after returning to disgust this guy. This has become the norm in the competition between the two.

"You know, many Tottenham Hotspur fans have begun to doubt your feelings towards Tottenham Hotspur. They even feel that you are using Tottenham Hotspur to make money. For example, in the past, you have been in Tottenham Hotspur. Mr Tottenham Real Estate has invested a huge amount of money, more than 500 million euros according to what we know, 200 million of which are loans from banks.”

"Compared to your generosity and generosity in the real estate business, you appear to be very stingy in signings. You have no transfer income from the sales of players such as Van Persie, Gareth Bale, Falcao, and Zyglinski." Used in the transfer market, but after selling popular stars, they have introduced young rookies including Neymar, Coutinho, Courtois and other young players. Do you think they can fill in the new season well for Coentrao, The losses caused by the departure of powerful stars such as Zygrinski and Falcao?”

Obviously, what Martin Samuel did this time was to make things difficult.

Ye Qiu is currently sitting in the head coach's office at Theobald Training Base, on the office chair that his wife Huang Chu bought for him. It is very comfortable. It is ergonomically designed after all. Then he looks at Martin Samuel with a smile. Well, he found all the fat guys funny when they were angry, including Roland Schepas and that damn Benitez.

"Can you answer my question seriously? I have to rush back to submit the manuscript!" Martin Samuel urged.

Damn it, who dares to push Martin Samuel for a manuscript? You think you want to go back in a hurry and think about how to disgust me?

But Ye Qiu didn't say anything, but coughed, "I once said that our Tottenham Hotspur will not be a team that spends huge sums of money to recruit, nor will we be a team that recruits superstars. And I can understand the thoughts of many Tottenham Hotspur fans, but what I want to say is, is there anyone in the transfer market who can directly improve our strength? "

Facing Ye Qiu's rhetorical question, Martin Samuel was a little embarrassed. Everyone knew that Tottenham Hotspur's main lineup was strong. This team had excellent world-class stars in almost every position. , the biggest weakness may be the left back. Ye Qiu has always trusted Marcelo, who is strong in offense and weak in defense.

But Marcelo has made great progress in the past few years, and his defense is now very good.

This season, with the departure of Zyglinski, Kompany became the main force, and Nastasic and Varane also became rookies in the team and were promoted to the first team. From this point of view, Todt Naham Hotspur indeed cannot find players in the transfer market who can improve the team's strength.

If we want to talk about shortcomings, Tottenham Hotspur's current weak link is the thickness of the bench.

But to be honest, who would spend tens of millions of euros to bring in some substitute players to sit on the bench?

"The reason why I don't introduce mature players is that on the one hand, I consider that the transfer market is full of bubbles now, and on the other hand, I consider that introducing mature players may not be able to adapt to our technical and tactical style, and there are very many in our youth team. A good group of players, so I think we should give them a chance.”

"For example, Ramsey, Hazard, and Eriksen who we promoted previously all performed very well, and Pogba, Nastasic, Varane and others were also in the previous youth team and reserve team. They have proven their strength and potential in the team and cup competitions, and Neymar and Coutinho have also proven their talent and strength in Brazil.”

"I want to say that these players are the future of the team. Within ten years, we will not need to make any adjustments at all. With them, Tottenham Hotspur can ensure its strong competitiveness in European football. Not to mention we have some very good, very good young players in our academy.”

"As long as you use the right method, you can train them into the talents that the team's first team needs, and the players trained in this way will be more loyal to us, and they will thank you for your education and cultivation, so I highly recommend such a group. team approach.”

"Of course, if we find that there are players we need on the transfer market, as long as the price is right, we will also take action, such as Raul and Alba!"

I still remember what Wenger said to Ye Qiu in a private chat, "In terms of attitude towards football, Latin people are rational and picky, but Anglo-Saxons are unreasonable and blind; after losing a game, "What you see in the eyes of the French and Italians is anger, but what you see in the eyes of the English is pain and disappointment."

Wenger later said, "Latin people are good at analysis and fine consideration. When they encounter something they like, they will want to ask why they like it. This makes them emotionally distant, while the English do not have this kind of rationality." , they won’t analyze why they love and believe.”

"So, if there is a war, I will choose to be with the English. This is why I choose to coach in the Premier League!"

Wenger is right, loyalty and hard work are the virtues that English fans respect and value most.

Even from the perspective of English fans, a player can perform poorly, lack strength, or even have no future and talent, but you cannot be disloyal and you cannot not work hard. As long as you are loyal and do it Congratulations on your hard work, no England fan will hate you!

Martin Samuel was sitting in front of Ye Qiu. Looking at this guy who looked a little serious on the surface, but in fact he must be extremely happy in his heart, he was helpless because his words touched the hearts of the English fans. Achilles' heel, because he emphasizes loyalty and belonging, which are undoubtedly what England fans value most.

So cunning, and downright cunning!

"Okay, last question!" Martin Samuel had almost asked all the questions in his notebook. "It's an old question. In the odds given by many bookmakers, Tottenham Hotspur is the favorite to win the Premier League in the new season. What do you think? Also, who do you think Tottenham Hotspur's strongest competitor will be?"

Ye Qiu had guessed this question a long time ago. After thinking about it, he answered: "I think we can only have a chance to win the championship if we go all out. If you want me to name the competitors for the championship, there is no doubt that Manchester United will be a very strong opponent, and Liverpool, which has spent a lot of money to recruit players this season, will also be a very difficult opponent."

"No Chelsea and Arsenal?" Martin Samuel smiled and dug a pit for Ye Qiu to jump into.

"No!" Ye Qiu shook his head without thinking, "But..."

He wanted to say more, but Martin Samuel didn't wait for him to finish. He turned off the recorder, closed the notebook, and stood up. "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Ye Qiu. You can wait to see the newspaper tomorrow morning!"

Watching the damn fat man walk out of his office, Ye Qiu felt that he was being cheated. He could even foresee that what would appear in the newspaper early tomorrow morning would be topics like Ye Qiu's belief that Chelsea and Arsenal had no hope of winning the championship.

"What a heartless fat man!" Ye Qiu laughed and cursed.