157 The biggest obstacle to moving to Manchester United
Morning, Carrington, western suburb of Manchester, UK.
Along a remote country road, Sir Alex Ferguson drove to Manchester United's Carrington training base.
This is a characteristic of many English teams.
Land is at a premium in urban areas and cannot accommodate the club's huge training base, so many teams choose to set up their training bases in rural towns in remote areas, such as Manchester United and Manchester City. The training bases of the two teams are close to each other.
, both at Carrington.
What is special is Chelsea. Their training base is near London Heathrow Airport, which is relatively close to the city. However, the training base looks like a broken warehouse. Anyone who walks in will not believe it.
It is the heartland where many Premier League stars train.
Except for away games and vacations, Ferguson would drive through this country road to the training base on time every morning.
The staff also knew him and his car, and opened the door for him to let him in from afar, saluting the godfather of the Red Devils, whose status was so high that even the CEO was in awe of him.
The journey was smooth to the parking lot. As soon as he got off the car, Ferguson saw his right-hand man, Carlos Queiroz.
The Portuguese is very capable, especially in training players, and he is very unique.
As he gets older, Ferguson no longer has the energy he had when he was young to control all aspects of the team, especially daily training. This forces him to delegate power to his assistants and focus on the tactical arrangements of the game.
Queiroz is such a reassuring assistant. Ferguson only needs to tell him what he wants, and Queiroz can help him get it done, making Ferguson very satisfied.
But then there will be another problem, and that is management.
A group of senior players in the team, led by Class 92, only obeyed Ferguson and were not interested in Queiroz.
Although Ferguson told these fans more than once that Queiroz represents him, who is convinced?
Keane is not convinced, Giggs and others are not convinced, and even Ruud van Nistelrooy is not convinced.
This is also normal. Queiroz's coaching career does not have a brilliant resume. The ones who are more impressive are Portugal's golden generation, but that is youth training. For Manchester United's world-class stars who have their eyes high, this
What do points count for?
As a result, there was a split within Manchester United.
Coupled with the age of the team and the continental style of play that Ferguson has vigorously promoted in recent years, Queiroz has been under unprecedented pressure.
Because of this, every time he saw Queiroz, Ferguson's first reaction was to smile.
Smile as kindly as possible.
"Ha, Carlos, so early?" Ferguson stepped forward.
Queiroz nodded, followed closely, and said to Ferguson: "There are some things I want to report to you."
Ferguson nodded as he walked, "You say."
"The European Cup is approaching. Sporting Lisbon's new stadium, Alvalade Stadium, is about to be renovated and will be opened in August. We hope to invite a team with outstanding strength and market appeal to play a warm-up match. They
Contacted me."
Queiroz is a Portuguese and has extensive connections in Portuguese football. It is only natural that Sporting Lisbon hopes to play a warm-up match with Manchester United and contact him through Queiroz.
"August?" Ferguson frowned, "Do we have time?"
"We can arrange one at the beginning of the month," Queiroz replied.
Ferguson looked at his assistant and said, "Okay, let's just play a game."
"Okay, I'll make arrangements." Queiroz said.
At Manchester United, as long as Ferguson nods, the matter is basically half successful. The rest is to go to the administrative department to go through the procedures, which will basically not be rejected.
"Also, the two teams from the UEFA Cup final came out last night."
"Have Celtic scored?" Ferguson asked.
Queiroz smiled slightly and nodded, "As you expected, the Celtics advanced."
Ferguson nodded and smiled, "The little guy Martin O'Neill is still very good. It seems that he will come to the Premier League soon. He will be an important opponent for us in the future. We must be careful and keep an eye on him."
As a Scot, Ferguson was happy that Celtic advanced to the final.
As the head coach of Manchester United, Ferguson has always been very concerned about his potential future opponents. Martin O'Neill is one of the new generation coaches in European football that Ferguson focuses on.
"If I guess correctly, the other team should be that arrogant kid."
But Queiroz shook his head, "You guessed wrong this time."
"Wrong guess?" Ferguson stopped, a little surprised.
"Sporting Lisbon advanced." Queiroz smiled.
Ferguson has always had a piercing eye, and he rarely makes mistakes, but this time he did guess wrong.
"What's going on?" Ferguson was surprised.
Sporting Lisbon played against Porto and Celtic played against Boavista. The first leg of the match was zero to zero and one to one. Boavista got an away goal and Sporting Lisbon did not.
Ferguson had previously determined that Boloni was at the end of his game and had no choice but to defend Mourinho. Mourinho would definitely strengthen the team's offense based on the solid defense in the first round and score goals in the away game.
ball.
As long as Porto scores a goal, Sporting Lisbon is doomed!
These are Ferguson's original words.
Unexpectedly, Ferguson bet on Celtic, but not on Porto.
"Starting from the 17th minute of the first half, in just ten minutes, young player Su Dong scored twice, and the final score was 2-0." As he spoke, Queiroz's eyes flashed with appreciation.
He is also very accurate in judging people, especially young players.
"Su Dong?" Ferguson chewed on this name. This name has appeared in his ears several times in the past year. Among them, assistant Queiroz mentioned it the most. The other one was Cristiano Ronaldo.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Unlike the latter, who impressed Ferguson deeply because of his name, Su Dong's main reason was his performance.
Queiroz described him as having Kluivert's tactical role, Vieri's strong impact, cunning as Romario's agility, and able to show the power aesthetics of Batistuta, the god of war.
If an ordinary player can get a praise, that is already considered a huge achievement.
But Sudong was able to receive a series of titles and praises from Queiroz, which is extraordinary.
The only obstacle is being young.
But even so, Ferguson didn't quite believe that Mourinho would be unprepared.
"This is impossible. With that arrogant kid's character, he must have been fully prepared. In the first round, he completely blocked Su Dong. How come he scored twice in the second round?" Ferguson was very worried.
Surprised.
He is well-informed and is rarely surprised by a player's performance.
Queiroz still kept smiling, "Because, Su Dong's two goals came from his left foot."
"Left foot?" Ferguson seemed to understand.
"Before this game, Sudong scored 18 goals in the Portuguese Super League and eight goals in the UEFA Cup. All of them were scored with the right foot and header. Not to mention the goals with the left foot, even assists
None, which makes many people believe that Su Dong’s left foot poses no threat. Mourinho also deployed targeted defense against his right foot and header in the first round, but the result..."
Ferguson chuckled. He didn't expect that that arrogant boy would capsize in the gutter.
But soon, he realized a problem.
"Su Dong's left foot is also very powerful?"
A flash of inspiration flashed in Queiroz's eyes. He did not have many direct descendants at Manchester United. Instead, he was questioned and excluded by stars including Keane and Ruud van Nistelrooy. This made it necessary for him to introduce some of his own "direct descendants."
”.
"I think his left foot is more imaginative and creative than his right foot, and it is also more surprising. At present, his left foot is obviously not particularly proficient, but given time, when he is completely proficient in it,
, then he is a player who is extremely proficient in both left and right feet, just like Diego Forlan."
Diego Forlan is an extremely rare player in world football who is proficient with both feet, which made him perform very well in the Argentine league. Ferguson immediately took a fancy to him and brought him to Manchester United.
But as a result, two years later, Forlan did not show convincing strength at Manchester United, which also made him another questionable transfer in Ferguson's recruitment.
Queiroz mentioned Diego Forlan at this time, which made Ferguson feel a little regretful and actually became more curious about Su Dong.
He is 1.95 meters tall, has amazing speed and explosive power, strong body, and delicate feet. Not to mention that he made up for his header shortcomings not long ago, but now he has also discovered the attributes of his left foot. What is the structure of this kid?
How many secrets are hidden in his body?
"Carlos, if we want to buy him, how much will it cost?"
"It's similar to Diego Forlan, it can be done for 10 million euros," Queiroz replied immediately.
Ferguson looked deeply at his assistant, "Are you sure?"
Queiroz turned around in his mind, "I have a question."
"explain."
"I am sure that I will pay 10 million euros to convince Sporting Lisbon, but it will be difficult to convince Sudong."
"Why?"
"He has no way to apply for a labor certificate. He has not played even a single game for the Chinese team."
"What?" Ferguson was very surprised. "He hasn't played for the Chinese team yet?"
"Well, it's absolutely true." Queiroz was very sure.
"Is the Chinese team that strong? Can they even look down on players like Su Dong?"
Queiroz was speechless now, and he himself was full of questions because he felt incredible.
According to Su Dong's performance this season, he is completely qualified to join the Portuguese national team, but the Chinese national team doesn't look down on him. What else can be said?
Ferguson thought about it and felt a little funny, but also a little helpless.
Without a labor certificate, what should he do if the terms for the special treatment of special talents that he and Wenger have been calling for for a long time have not yet been released?
Ferguson shook his head and sighed, then walked into his office.
