A hearty victory came to an end. Millwall accumulated 11 points after five games, qualified early, and secured first place in the group.
As for who the other opponents in the same group will live and who will die, this is not what Millwall will care about.
All the Millwall stars took their final bow on the court and returned to the locker room for a short celebration. The smoke from the battle cleared and everyone took a shower and changed clothes. However, the excitement in their hearts had not subsided. Even when they returned home, they could not sleep, so some players made a promise
Go play two sets of snooker and then go home.
Outside the parking lot, Ronaldinho lowered the window and waved to Henry who was about to open his car door as he drove away. He playfully made a provocative gesture of racing. Henry smiled helplessly and had no intention of engaging in such a risky game with him.
When Henry got in the car, his cell phone rang suddenly and he took it out to answer it.
"Thierry, where are you?"
"I'm getting ready to go to a billiards room in the city to play two sets of snooker with my teammates."
"Let's meet now."
"Why?"
"We have important things to talk about."
"good."
After writing down the meeting place, Henry drove there. On the way, he seemed very worried.
The caller was his agent.
This is his second agent.
In the summer of 1996, Henry led the French U18 to win the European Cup youth championship. At that time, he attracted the attention of many wealthy European teams. This meant that Henry needed a professional agent to help him plan his career.
He hired an agent himself to deal with his career and related matters. At this time, Real Madrid offered him an olive branch. It was the agent Henry hired himself to discuss the terms of joining. Just when everything seemed to be
When everything was ready, Monaco submitted a complaint to FIFA. The reason was that Henry's agent did not have an agent qualification certificate recognized by FIFA. At the same time, Monaco tried its best to keep Henry and give Henry
A professional agent was introduced. FIFA ruled that Monaco won the case and Henry's agreement with Real Madrid was invalid, so Henry continued to stay in Monaco and was served by this new agent thereafter.
Henry sent a text message to his teammates on the way to meet his agent. It seemed that he would not be able to go and play snooker.
The meeting place with the agent was in a hotel suite in the city.
Henry sat across from his agent.
"What to talk about?"
"Talk about your future."
"I don't understand, I feel fine now."
Henry is going all out to hit the Premier League Golden Boot. It can even be said to be the European Golden Boot. At the same time, Millwall is in sight of defending the league title and has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Is there anything more wonderful than this?
His agent was gentle and solemn, and said in a deep voice: "I know. Thierry, you are now the top scorer in the Premier League, and you will definitely win the trophy this year, but are you satisfied with this?"
Henry frowned and asked: "What on earth are you questioning?"
"Do you still have the ambition to be the number one striker in the world? To be among the top among the great strikers in history?"
"You shouldn't question my enterprising spirit."
Henry's expression was slightly unhappy. He was not a child and did not need to express his determination to his parents. Especially since the other party was just his agent, he did not need to prove anything to the other party.
"Then you should go to the No. 1 league in the world to prove yourself! Become the No. 1 forward in the world in the No. 1 league in the world!"
The agent's words were resounding and struck Henry's heart hard.
He lowered his head and pressed his fingers together against his forehead, and asked in a low voice: "Which club are you trying to persuade me to join?"
"Juventus, they have shown enough sincerity, but this is not the main reason. Think about it, you go to Juventus and there are your friends Trezeguet and Zidane from the national team. The world With a championship frontcourt working together, what can't be done?"
These words are indeed very tempting.
Henry closed his eyes and was silent for a moment before saying: "But I can also get a lot of honors at Millwall, and Millwall's achievements over the years are not lower than Juventus."
The agent shouted back: "Don't you understand? How important are you in Millwall? Larsson is Mr. Ballon d'Or. Nedved is also Mr. Ballon d'Or. Ronaldinho is almost ignored by the outside world. Described as Hall's half-brother! You? You will always be in their shadow! If they value you so much, why have you performed so well in this year, but have not mentioned the consecutive appointments? Yes? You earn the same amount as Ronaldinho, the Brazilian, but you are the world champion! What does he have? You have more than twice as many goals as him!"
For the club, no matter how nice the words are, no matter how good the personal relationship is, even the commitment of the main player, it is far less profound than the sincerity that money can reflect.
Henry said without confidence: "Maybe the boss thinks it's not yet time. We shouldn't talk about money now. Our focus must be on the court."
"Don't be stupid, Thierry, I tell you, Larsson and Nedved have a million pounds more annual salary than you, and they also have a million pounds more bonus than you!"
Henry raised his head in surprise and asked, "Really?"
The agent nodded solemnly and said, "It's absolutely true!"
He definitely didn't lie about this.
I don’t know from which source he got the inside information about Millwall.
Larsson and Nedvěd’s weekly salary is higher than that of Henry. At the same time, they will receive an additional one million bonus this year. Not only do they have this bonus, Southgate also has one million, and other players such as Schneider , Materazzi, Makelele and other players also have bonuses of 800,000 yuan.
The appearance of this bonus is not accidental, it is not given to the players on a whim by Millwall, but the "loyalty clause" in the player's contract comes into effect.
Any player who plays for Millwall for five years will receive a "loyalty bonus" starting from the sixth year!
The loyalty clause is not a reward for loyal players to chew on their old laurels. It will be directly linked to attendance. For example, after a certain number of appearances in a season, you can get the full amount, and if there are insufficient games, you will get a discount.
Henry's agent did not explain the content of this bonus, nor did he point out that Ronaldinho and Pirlo did not receive this bonus. If we cannot deeply understand its intentions, it is impossible to understand it from a positive perspective.
Millwall's team salary structure is not the highest in the Premier League. For example, the player with the highest weekly salary in the Premier League is Manchester United player Roy Keane. Just three months ago, the midfielder renewed his contract with Manchester United and received Weekly salary of £50,000.
The three captains of the Millwall club are the highest paid representatives, with their weekly salary being 40,000 pounds.
But if you include the "loyalty clause" bonuses, on average, their weekly salary is more than 60,000 pounds, which has reached the highest level in the Premier League. But bonuses are bonuses after all. Compared with dead wages, there are uncertainties
of.
Henry's weekly salary at Millwall is indeed not very high, it can only be considered mid-range. His weekly salary is 25,000 pounds, which is a significant increase from his weekly salary when he played for Monaco two years ago.
.Even though he came to the team with the highest value in the history of Millwall, the contract treatment he received at that time was indeed mediocre, because during the same period, players such as Nedved and others received salary increases of varying magnitudes after winning the Champions League.
salary.
Henry's mind was a little confused. After being bewitched by his agent, he always felt that his thoughts were spinning. Some things seemed strange and unreasonable, but he couldn't find anything unreasonable.
If Aldridge were here, he would tell Henry bluntly: In the summer of 1998, you had a weekly salary of 25,000 pounds. What were you dissatisfied with? Will you be given a salary increase after one year after joining the team? Half of last season's salary
It’s time for you to recuperate from your injuries, recuperate from your injuries!
After Henry left, his agent took out his phone and called.
"I've already started convincing him."
"How's it going?"
"If you move faster in the summer, you should be sure of success."
"Then I'm waiting for your good news."
"Where's my 400,000 yuan reward?"
"As long as he agrees to the transfer, he will transfer it to you on the same day."
"It's a deal."
The football circle has the same characteristics as various small circles in society. It is full of shady conspiracies, instigations, seductions, betrayals, and choices. Even though the stories here cannot affect the world trend or life and death, there are invisible swords and swords.
.The invisible smoke of gunpowder still prevents this game from being pure.
...
In the weekend's league match, Millwall went away to challenge Black Cats Sunderland.
During the game, Aldridge still used the combination of substitute defense and main offensive group.
It was a game that should have been won, but Henry failed to win it because of his abnormal performance. He wasted at least three excellent opportunities.
With seven games left in the Premier League, the point gap between Millwall and Manchester United has been reduced to 12 points.
In the locker room after the game, Henry took an early shower and sat on his seat. He lowered his head and looked very remorseful.
What are you thinking about!
A midweek conversation with his agent lingered in his mind and was a serious distraction.
"Hey, don't get too hung up on the game. Sometimes it's just weird. No matter how you kick, the ball just won't go into the goal."
Larson patted him on the shoulder when he passed by him, smiled and said a few words.
Southgate did not play in the game and spent 90 minutes on the bench. He walked up to Henry fully dressed and asked: "You look worried, is that okay?"
Henry raised his head and cheered up and said, "No problem."
Southgate nodded and stopped asking, guessing that it might be the influence of Henry's private life.
On the bus back, Aldrich asked Henry to sit next to him, while Jenson found another seat to sit down.
Aldridge turned to stare at Henry, who was in a low mood, and didn't think too much. After the game, the opponent was rated as Millwall's worst player in the game. It felt like the contrast in state was too strong. He only scored in the Champions League in midweek.
, several golden opportunities in the weekend league were squandered. This contrast came without warning, and it is also one of the phenomena that Aldridge is most worried about.
Even if the state of most players declines, it does so little by little, and the signs can be seen through specific data on the field. However, it is rare for Henry to have completely different performances within a short time interval.
"Didn't you rest well before the game?"
Henry shook his head.
"Hiding the injury?"
Henry still shook his head.
"Thierry, I don't understand. This season I have kept you at an average of at least four days per game, and it may not necessarily be 90 minutes per game. Your status should be fine recently, but you are on the court today.
They behave as if they don’t know how to play football. I never think that getting angry at players can immediately improve their performance significantly. My principle is that if there is a problem, then solve it. Maybe you can’t solve it yourself, but
If we work together, we won’t be stumped.”
Henry looked at Aldrich and said in a deep voice: "Boss, I'm fine, I just feel bad today. I promise you will be satisfied with the next game."
Aldridge stared at him for a long time, and finally nodded: "I don't need your guarantee, but I trust you, Thierry. At this moment, the team needs you. What can we gain at the end of the season? The team still needs you."
Well, okay, you can sit back in your seat."
After Aldrich finished speaking, he withdrew his gaze. Henry stood up and walked towards his seat, Aldrich's words swirling in his mind.
